Nimbus Exploration
by Sho Lover
Summary: [AU][Kingdom Hearts version][AeriSeph] Sometimes, there are more worlds than just some. You have to explore further to reveal the secrets.
1. Journey Zero: Thoughts

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII nor Kingdom Hearts. (Bleep!) **_**_WellI do own the plot and that original character, but I'm not going to tell you, till the next Journey._**

**_Quick note: Though the world is set in Kingdom Hearts, there are some new things that I added to this that were not from either Final Fantasy VII's storyling nor the Kingdom Hearts storyline to it. Plus this fanfiction was inspired and dedicated to mihoyonagi._**

_**Journey Zero – Thoughts**_

"_Mummy."_

"_Yes, Aerith. What is it this time?"_

"_Are there more worlds than just Hollow Bastion?"_

"_That depends, but why do you want to know?"_

"_I'm curious and I don't want to stay here.-"_

_"I want to go to new worlds."_

* * *

Funny enough for Aerith. Those words she asked to her mother was now more than mere thoughts from her past. Too bad she's now stuck with Leon, Yuffie and Cid, as the four went into Olympus Coliseum via Cid's Gummi Ship. 

While Yuffie was busy teasing Leon into skills, Aerith just looked at the window, where a blanket of stars covered the beautiful, yet lonely black sky. She wondered whether if there were more worlds than the ones she has been.

_New worlds, huh? _She thought. _Maybe. There must be more than those worlds!_

Unexpectedly, Yuffie scared Aerith, while wondering into her quiet thoughts.

"Yuffie, don't scare me like that!" Aerith scolded with a little disgust.

"Well, sorry Aerith." Yuffie replied with a smile. "Just here to get your mind off from Dreamland!"

"Will you two pipe it down?" exclaimed Cid, while driving the Gummi ship. "Besides, we're near our destination, so you two better get prepared for the tournament."

And so, the story was wounded up in a tournament. However, to Aerith, the journey of finding new worlds has just begun.

* * *

_Author's Notes: Yes, it is rather a bit short, but there will be Sephiroth appearing in the next chapter, so don't just hold your breath. And then there are original characters coming in the next chapter. If you are asking me, why did I not put some FF7 stuff into this, is that I don't think Aerith/Aeris in the Kingdom Hearts version would remember her being 'poked' by Sephiroth, nor does Sephiroth himself wanting to be a God and doing it for his 'mother', Jenova. Hence, the AU part._

_And if you are asking me why did I put this fanfiction into the FF7 catergory, is that I want to concentrate more on the Aeriseph emphasis than the KH, despite Sora being included in the next and besides, after two Journeys or so, I'll 'make' new worlds that were not included in the KH game._

_As for Silent Knid, just hold on, while I finished Journey One – Discovery. Yes, Wonka fans and possible Runedo fans, just hold on._

_By the end of the next chapter, I won't nice, until I get five reviews to do Journey Two. Well, I hope you enjoy my fanfiction and remember to review!_


	2. Journey One: Discovery

_**Journey One – Discovery**_

Olympus Coliseum. Home to the skilled warriors and one mysterious person. Aerith, Leon, Yuffie and Cid arrived at the entrance to the arena, as thousands of participants gathered to obtain the ultimate prize – being praised as champion.

Aerith looked around for something interesting, but so far, it's nothing, bar warriors with weapons. Except, she caught sight of an unique figure. Such beautiful long, platinum, flowing hair and that black wing on his back. She could not get her eyes off this handsome, yet mysterious person and then a sudden flashback began to crack beneath her mind.

"_Mummy, what's an One Winged Angel?"_

"_Hmm, now what's on your mind Aerith?"_

"_I'm just really curious and I've been reading through books about it."_

"_Well all right, if you insist. An One Winged Angel is person born with a black wing every 100 years or so. Some might say whoever was born in that condition can be considered as bad luck and tend to rid of this one either casting off to another world or be killed at such a young age. Others might say, that person is the bringer of destruction to the world whenever that one sets foot on land."_

Unfortunately, that flashback was short-lived, as Aerith was interrupted by a familiar voice calling out to herself and her friends.

"Aerith! Over here!"

"Sora!" Aerith exclaimed happily as she and the others ran towards the young spiked-hair boy.

"Hey there, Sora!" happily remarked Yuffie. "Are you ready for the tournament?"

"Yeah! I can't wait to get that title!"

"Hmm, if you have enough skills to qualify for the quarter finals." Sarcastically remarked Leon.

"And luck!" followed Yuffie merrily. "So, Aerith. Which person, except for Cid and you, do you think is going to get that title?"

"Hmm, that person with long hair." Aerith replied without a second to hesitate.

"Long hair? You don't mean that Champion Sephiroth!" Surprisingly exclaimed Cid as soon as his toothpick dropped from his mouth.

"Sephiroth?" Everybody asked.

"Well, haven't you heard? He's currently the Champion five times ever since, he defeated Hercules with his long, but strong weapon Masamune!"

"So, what are the chances on getting that title?" Yuffie nervously asked to Cid.

"Slim. Very slim. Even Hercules can't defeat him, even though he is the son of Zeus." After Cid's statement, that made Yuffie and Sora gulped.

* * *

The tournament inside the arena made an exciting start, as the crowd cheered their favourite gladiator, some on Sora, others for either Yuffie, Donald Duck, Goofy, Leon and even Sephiroth. But as for Aerith sitting on the front row next to Cid, she couldn't help herself, but to look at that graceful black-winged person gracefully attacking his first opponent – a heartless. 

Then it was the semi-finals. Leon versus the mysterious electric guitar player and Sora versus Sephiroth. At the start of the first round of the semi-final, Leon was battling against this person with a choice of eccentric weapons.

_An electric guitar? _Leon thought before the match has even begun. _Does this person know he's in a battle where he is vulnerable?_

However, unknown to Leon that appearances can be deceptive, the mysterious cowboy-hat wearer with dirty colour trench coat, jeans and boots hold a surprise to the lonely warrior as he devilishly smiled to him. As soon as the 'foul-mouth' faun, Phil shouted 'Fight!' to the combatants, Leon quicken his pace and ready to strike with his Gunblade, as soon as he got near his position.

_He's still standing there. Okay, Leon, just one easy swipe and you're through to the final!_

He jumped and strike his Gunblade to the guitar player. But then something happened that shocked every crowd, even Aerith and Cid.

As soon as the mysterious person plucked his string from his electric guitar, strange wires came out from the grounds behind him and grabbed tightly onto Leon's every limb and torso.

_What the! Where did those wires coming from?

* * *

_

Meanwhile back on the entrance to the arena, Sora was worried about Leon's current struggle and couldn't face the decision of whether to save him from being strangled by a mad guitar player.

_I can't leave him suffering from this! _Sora thought angrily as he summoned his Keyblade. _Don't worry Leon! I'll save you! _However, his attempts was stopped by someone's strong hand.

"Where do you think you're going?" he coldly asked. When Sora turned around, he was amazed to see Sephiroth looking so coldly, yet strangely concerned.

"Would you let go of me! I've got to save Leon!"

"And then you'll risk yourself resulting in disqualification? Pathetic."

"What did do say?"

"Face the facts! Leon is going to lose, yet he is still fighting to survive the round and doesn't need any help. So don't be a fool rushing in, only to get disqualified!"

Sora desperately wanted to save Leon, but bitterly Sephiroth was right. He would be disqualified should he be assisting the man with the Gunblade.

As for Sephiroth himself, instead of looking at that mad guitarist strangling Leon via his electric instrument, he looked at interest to this woman dressed in pink attempting to shout Leon for support, though doubt that it can go through in his ears. Yet, for strange reason, he found her captivating as she looked innocent.

However, he shook his head denying his interest on that woman.

_Wake up, you fool! You're not in love with that woman! You're only interested with battling against strong opponents! Just concentrate on the tournament!

* * *

_

Minutes later and Leon fell down to the floor, clutching for his very life thanks to those wires. He knew that mysterious guitarist won the round, smiled and yet gave one joke as he helped him to get up –

"Hope that one of my acts wasn't strangling your neck!"

"No…wonder…" was all Leon was saying as he gasped for breath and been taken to infirmary.

Meanwhile, back at the stand, Aerith couldn't believe how such an aloof electric guitarist could defeat Leon by only plucking his strings and let the wires do the work. Even Yuffie, defeated earlier, Donald, Goofy and Cid felt surprised that the electric guitarist was stronger than he looked.

"You know," remarked Yuffie, "I doubt that Sora would beat Sephiroth, but Sora beating that weirdo?"

"I know." Aerith replied with concern. "Though Sephiroth has a longer reach, not to mention great strength, that person has wires from behind could trap him within seconds and I'll doubt neither of them will win."

The second round of the semi-final was disappointed, well to Sora, as usual, Sephiroth won and now the final could begin. The great One Winged Angel against an eccentric, yet aloof electric guitarist. On the arena for the closing match.

The crowd was tense. Even Aerith and soon, Sora, looked worried to see if Sephiroth would lost the title to someone.

_Please, Sephiroth _Aerith thought _Don't get caught by his trap._

"So, you must be the One Winged Angel." Remarked apathetically the electric guitarist. "Allow me to introduce myself. The name's Johannes Bach. But called me Bach for short."

"…" was all Sephiroth could say.

"Silent one, eh? Heh. I've heard an One Winged Angel was bringing bad luck and destruction to the world from the moment you stepped on to this world. But I wondered, would your bad luck be the key to your victory?"

"…"

Then with the stances ready for position, Sephiroth bending down, ready for Masamune to strike and Bach, stretching his fingers to pluck his strings, and Phil shouting "Fight!" it was all action.

* * *

Bach plucked his beloved strings, making the wires come out from the ground, directing towards the One Winged Angel. Yet Sephiroth did not want an utter defeat against that eccentric guitarist, as he narrowly dodged the oncoming wires and slicing them, should they be too close for Masamune's contact. 

Minutes in the arena later, turned to hours and the atmosphere was intense, showing neither of the warriors showing utter defeat.

But then, some event unexpectedly happened. A crimson arrow was shot between Bach and Sephiroth and the crowd stopped cheering.

"What the -!" Bach exclaimed.

"My, my." Shouted the sinister voice. "Here I am, seeing you battling against an One Winged Angel, when you're losing the main prize." Everyone, well nearly, looked at the corner on top of the arena and there, a person covered in a deep red robe with a half mask that covered his eyes, smiling sinisterly to Bach. "Well, Bach. Why aren't you reaching your goal?"

"Hey! I was just taking a break from exploring so why are you pissing me off now?"

"Exploring?" Aerith asked to herself. "Does it mean that weird electric guitarist is actually an explorer?"

"Who knows." Cid replied indirectly to Aerith. "Though I've never seen him in Traverse Town. That's all I could tel-" Another crimson arrow shot between the two observers.

"Keep it down or you'll be my next target." Told the Crimson stranger coldly.

"Hey!" exclaimed Bach's voice. "Target me, not the audience!"

"So, Bach, got any last request, before your appearance?"

"Yeah I got one. Go on and bother someone else's tournament!"

"Sigh. Oh well." With a click on his fingers, strange crimson shadows appeared in front of him, transformed into hideous dragons and jumped to the crowd, where the audience stood up and ran for their life, as the crimson stranger disappeared.

Bach was surely ticked off that the crimson stranger interrupted, while disposing a few crimson dragons.

"So, Sephiroth," remarked Bach, as the two warriors backed each other, "Want to call it a truce?"

"…I suppose so." The One Winged Angel replied as he slashed a few more dragons.

What became the best tournament Olympus Stadium gave to the audience, became the most horrific event people have seen. Crimson dragons were everywhere slaughtering the audience. However, there was resistance as Sora kept slashing, Yuffie kept using her ninja skills, along with Leon, who still being bandaged from Bach's wires, was on the young ninja's side; slicing and dicing every monster that were nothing look like a Heartless.

Meanwhile on the edge to the row entrance upstairs, Aerith and Cid managed to escape from the crimson dragons, but unfortunately for her, she tripped by the time she went on the next step. Cid did stop helping her to get up, but Aerith insisted that she was all right and wanted Cid to get out the arena. As Aerith stood up in time to save herself, she was caught unexpectedly by the claw of the crimson dragon. She tried to struggle to free herself, but the way that mysterious creature lured her, made her no choice, but to be killed as it opened its gory mouth.

_Maybe my childhood dream of exploring new worlds is over. I guess this is it. I'm sorry Sora, Yuffie, Leon; Cid. And especially, Sephiroth. I don't know about you, but it was nice seeing your quiet, yet celestial face._

"_Mummy. Do you mean that One Winged Angels are bad guys?"_

"_No, not necessarily. Just because their wing is black, doesn't mean they act like a villain."_

"_So, how do I know they are really nice people after all?"_

"_Don't believe the people telling you myths about that person I've talk to you about. You have to approach him or her to see their sensitive side and decide for yourselves, whether you like her or him."

* * *

_

SLASH!

He did it. Cutting the crimson dragon's arm off as it cries loudly, just to save a woman in pink. Sephiroth had no idea why he should be saving her, but his mind told him save that woman. He looked at her calm, yet innocent and beautiful tired face as he was carrying her.

By the time Aerith woke up, she was shocked to see her 'knight in shining armour' was none other than the One Winged Angel himself. But instead of screaming to put herself down, she shouted and pointed to that object behind him.

"BEHIND YOU!"

Another crimson dragon appeared from Sephiroth's back and as he sensed danger straight away, he placed Aerith onto the sitting area of the stand, quickly drawing Masamune and as he turned around, Aerith saw the horror.

Blood. Spilt for the first time, as the crimson dragon split itself near-severely, resulting in as instant death. However, unfortunately, Sephiroth too has suffered the same damage as injuries was showing heavy cuts from his body. He then, turned his head slowly, seeing if that woman was okay and…once the Great Champion, fell down unconscious in front of her.

_Why am I saving this woman? And why doesn't she seem to be afraid of me?

* * *

__Author's notes: The main concern for Aerith's flashbacks, yes it is Ilfana's voice that was speaking to young Aerith, but since Square Enix wasn't bothered to add Aerith's past in Kingdom Hearts, I might as well put her in, only in speech form, as I do not want to give out too much plot. Also, I'm not good at writing some action battle scene stuff, so I'll let you, the readers to do your imagination of that, like what C.S. Lewis did to his readers._

_And if anyone is interested why did I name that electric guitarist after a composer, well I think the original J.S. Bach was as cool when listening to his music as listening to Gorillaz's 'Feel Good INC.' and even Nobou Uematsu's Final Fantasy pieces. It was also a bit cool to have an aloof, Sha Gojyo-style from Kazuya Minekura's Saiyuki personality into it. _

_The inspiration for original character, 'Bach' came from an art book from Taschen and I came across the manga-ka, Kazuhiro Fujita with one of his manga, Le Cirque de Karakuri (Karakuri Circus or Trick Circus); by the time I was running out of idea to find a cool character, I eventually found this guitarist in Fujita's same manga as mentioned earlier that had fuel my ignition to do this fanfiction. Add Gambit from X-Men to have an appearance, without space boots and that 'X' uniform and Bach was created. End of story._

_And why did I chose the fanfiction title, 'Nimbus Exploration'? You'll have to give me five reviews to answer that out! Sorry for being mean, but the last time I did it to my CATCF fanfiction, no one has ever bothered to reach the 5th review, so I couldn't be bothered writing the next chapter. So, please review! All flames and anti-Aeriseph hate mail shall be used for Damien Hirst's latest creation and all anti-anti-Aeriseph mail shall be welcomed to me._


	3. Joruney Two: Jehovah

**_Journey Two – Jehovah_**

_Somewhere dark_

"I found him," said that crimson stranger "as expected."

"Yes, but he has gone from the Olympus Coliseum." Replied the blue stranger. "Now he is with the others, somewhere in the Nimbus Galaxy."

"Pfft." Sarcastically said the green stranger with a female voice. "The Nimbus Galaxy is just a small place. Why can't we just obliterate him and everyone!"

"Patient young one." Coldly said the black stranger. "We already know he and that girl are with Bach and his crew and left the Heart Star System."

"What!" exclaimed the green stranger. "You mean that the son of the Archangel Michael left the Heart Star System! Then, how do we find him?"

"You do not need to worry." Remarked the white stranger, to which every stranger was surprised to see him appearing from nowhere. "My subordinates tell me that the son of the Archangel Michael and his acquaintances are heading towards the Ishtar Solar System."

"But isn't the Ishtar Solar System has planets full of foul air!" exclaimed the crimson stranger.

"Yes," replied the white stranger calmly "but we shall wait and see how he and his acquaintances can survive the other Star and Solar Systems. And hopefully, he will enter into the path and unlock the key to Lost Eden that has left untouched for thousands of years."

* * *

"Will he be alright?" asked one calmly sweet female voice. 

"Don't worry." Replied the voice with a rough female voice. "That bloke is one heck of tough nut to crack. Besides, he did rescue you from being a feast to those strange monsters."

_Where am I? And why can I hear voices? No wait, I'm still alive._

"Hey, I can hear his groaning voice."

"Yep, what did I tell you? He is a tough nut to crack. Sephy's going to be all right!"

"Would you please stop calling me 'Sephy'?" remarked Sephiroth with a groan voice. He opened his eyes slowly and saw that familiar girl he rescued in Olympus Coliseum and that woman with he dark brown skin and her dirty blonde hair. "Where am I, exactly?"

"My my," explained the dark brown woman, "you've sure got a nice long sleep that lasts for three days or so. You're in Bach's huge ship, the Vatican and when I say huge ship, I mean somewhere in space."

"What!" Sephiroth exclaimed, as he sat up slowly. He observed that he was definitely not in the Olympus Coliseum, but somewhere in that futuristic room that looks similar to the Gummi ship. "Wait. Let me get this straight. I've been in a coma for three days, so why does this woman I've saved here is still here?"

"That woman you saved is Aerith Gainsborough and I'm Eliza Kinja by the way." Recalled Eliza. "I don't know what the heck's going on, since I'm so cooped up fixing Bach's MA so I let Aerith's do the gap stuff."

"Well Sephiroth," explained Aerith calmly, "you see…"

* * *

_Earlier at the Olympus Coliseum_

"_What!" exclaimed Phil. "You mean the star of the attraction is nothing, but a curse!"_

"_Hey!" remarked Bach as he shrugged. "Don't blame me! That One Winged Angel prophecy crap is just a superstition to me, yet he's still injured and saved your reputation from being a junk of corpses."_

"_Yeah," remarked Hercules "but that still doesn't mean he's still going to keep his title, if some people said he brings destruction to the world!"_

"_So how do you supposed to take him to?" Bach suggested._

"_Take him with you and go somewhere really far away!" Phil exclaimed as he was suffering from a major headache. "I don't care if he's going to keep the Champion title or if you and him are going for a rematch at my arena!"_

"_You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Bach with an expression that could only described as shocking. "There is no way that Sephiroth is taking with me to the Vatican and go somewhere outside your world!"_

"_Maybe I can take care of him." Suggested Aerith as she ran towards the two men and a faun. "Since my childhood dream was to explore the stars beyond the worlds here and I want to watch over Sephiroth, since he saved my life."_

"_WHAT!" exclaimed everyone, including Leon, Yuffie and Cid._

"_But if you are going with Bach," cried Yuffie "that means you won't be with us!"_

"_Yeah and how am I supposed to take care of the Accessories shop over at Traverse Town?" asked Cid._

"_Great!" exclaimed Leon with a first-time frustration. "Now, how the heck am I supposed to re-fix Hollow Bastion all by myself?"_

"_Cid," remarked Aerith with a smile "I'm sure those moogles will help you and Leon, you have Yuffie for company, right? I'm sure you can take care of Hollow Bastion without me."_

"_Yeah that's great, but why do you want me to take Sephiroth and you to go further?" asked Bach with a confused look. "You know you won't be able to see your friends for a long time, once my ship, Vatican would be a distant object."_

"_I know I'm going to have many sacrifices, like leaving my friends I knew from these worlds behind. However, I want to explore the worlds that have yet to discover and prove that there must be more than I've been in."_

"_All right, I'll take you and Sephiroth to the Vatican, but I don't promise about your health. Once we're out, who knows what our fortunes bring."

* * *

_

"And that's how both you and I wound up here." Explained Aerith as she caught her breath finally and sat down on a chair.

"So if I'm not in the Olympus Coliseum, where am I?" Sephiroth asked in a confused expression.

"You're halfway between the Heart Star System and the Ishtar Solar System." Called a voice that would be familiar as Bach came through the sliding automatic door. "Take Aerith with you and meet me at the meeting room. There's a lot of explaining to do about the worlds we're live in."

* * *

_Meeting room_

The room that Aerith and Sephiroth first stepped into looked like they have entered into looked like they've entered into the library in Hollow Bastion, though saved for the round Victorian-style chestnut brown table with matching chairs and the windows that showed nothing, but stars. Around the Victorian-style table, there was Eliza, to which both of them knew, but then next to her as a girl, aged somewhere around twelve cleaning her smaller guns. Then, there was this blonde-haired male adult, who was stroking his weird-looking shotgun, a person with brown mid-long hair and rimmed half-glasses, sleeping and finally a male teenager whose eyes and hair are similar to Sephiroth, except his body was full of technology. Bach came to the centre of the table and put his arm out, like it was ordering Aerith and Sephiroth to sit down and they did, well, uncomfortably next to each other.

"Well guys, we have new arrivals." Bach explained "The chick with brown hair is Aerith Gainsborough and the bloke with the black wing is Sephiroth."

_The bloke with a black wing? _Thought Sephiroth with a bit of disgust. _That's not a good way to introduce myself._

"Aerith and Sephiroth, I'll like you to meet my crew. I'm sure you've already met Eliza Kinja, so the girl with guns is an artificial humanoid, Alda. This shotgun lover is Rufus Shinra, the bloke who's sleeping like a baby is Adrian Hausen and finally, this is a cyborg named YESHUA or Yeager Enterprises Strategic Hyper Ultimate Android for the long version.

If you've got any questions before moving on to the main objective, raise your hand now." Aerith raised her quickly. "Yes, Aerith?"

"What on earth are the Heart Star System and the Ishtar Solar System?"

"Well, uh…"

"Let me explain to you, since Bach has no knowledge about the Nimbus Galaxy." Replied Adrian as he woke up, pressed some buttons to show a projection of the planets. "Hollow Bastion, Olympus Coliseum and other planets that surround is known as the Heart Star System. This is the Vatican's current position, i.e. we are there as it is entering hyperspace mode to cross between this and the Ishtar Solar System. Technically, we're not outside the Heart Star System and not that far into the borders of the Ishtar Solar System. So, we'll be entering into the I.S.S in about an hour."

"Uh, thanks Adrian. Well, since both the Ishtar Solar System and the Heart Star System are part of the Nimbus Galaxy, let's just move on to the main objective." He pressed a few buttons to show a map of the Nimbus Galaxy. "Well Aerith and Sephiroth, I'm sure Adrian gave you enough info about this, so I'll just skip to the best part. Apparently, according to the Martyrs 100 Observation models, there was this artefact that match as Rufus described in one of the planets in the Ishtar Solar System."

"Yeah and it took a few books and astrometry crap that you want me to take a look." Mockingly said Rufus.

"So what on earth is that artefact that made everyone, except Aerith and me, so excited?" asked Sephiroth with a confused look that only Bach and his crew would know.

"Hmm," replied Bach with a smile "that's a good question. According to some prophecies and some crap, some artefacts belong to the Archangel Michael, who once defeated evil, locked the path to Lost Eden after some incident occurred around thousand of years ago. I wanted to find them, so that I can uncover the truth about the myth of Lost Eden. A myth that tells the destruction of the technology shrouded in mystery, resulted humans, such as ours, forcing to flee into the unknown."

"That seems to make sense, but what I don't get is why does that crimson stranger seem to be mocking at you?" curiously asked Aerith. "I mean, he said that you were taking a break, when you're supposed to unlock Lost Eden?"

"Well, all explorers, such as myself, needed to take a break. Besides, that crimson stranger is nothing, but an annoying person that wanted to gatecrash my break."

"Though, there is one problem to the artefacts." Explained YESHUA in an expressionless face. "According to some journals and the Yeager Enterprises data bank, the artefacts that were scattered all over the Nimbus Galaxy have no effects on humans. Unless, as prophecies and some speculations are told, the son of the Archangel Michael will contact each artefact to unlock the path to Lost Eden.

" At the moment, we have found only one artefact that its mechanism is similar to the Mobile Armours or M.A.s Dominion, Anima and Lakia used. According to the findings that Rufus has found, this artefact was once belonged to the Archangel Michael and he named it – Jehovah."

The word 'Jehovah' brought Sephiroth to his head as he clutched his hand onto his head, feeling as he got a headache.

_No. Not now, I don't want that memory coming back! Please, go away! That person, please go away! Please!_

"Sephiroth, are you all right?" asked Aerith, as she touched his back. He looked at her, seeing her sad, yet innocent look that was filled with concern.

"Yeah, just a slight headache, that's all."

"Right, that's one problem, let's just see what Alda has to say about the location of the artefact." Rudely explained Bach as he just wanted to get on with the current objective.

Alda began to speak with a smile. "Well we all know that the artefact is found at somewhere in the third planet Mateel in the Ishtar Solar System, though there's one catch. The atmosphere in Mateel is very poisonous to humans and humanoids, except YESHUA obviously, since he's a robot, due to a shocking a hundred percent carbon monoxide gas. Well, no choice but to use MAs. And Aerith and Sephiroth can come along too, if they want to."

"Oh, please." Smiled Aerith "Since this was my childhood dream is to explore new worlds, I want to see what the new worlds look like on surface."

"I might as well come with her, than being bored inside this Gummi ship." Regrettably remarked Sephiroth as he had to put up with Aerith on her childhood child. Yet at the same time, he felt relieved that at least he had one person that was from the Heart Star System or whatever. "Though I have one question, Bach if I may."

"Sure, fire away." Replied Bach with a happy expression. "And this isn't a Gummi ship by the way. This is different technology from the world you live in."

"YESHUA explained that there were three MAs – Dominion, Anima and Lakia. Then how come Jehovah is different to those three?"

"Well, uh…you see…the thing is…"

"Bach, why don't I take over the complicated parts and concentrate on the bounty?" rudely suggested Adrian as he woke up again from the sleep that lasted for at least five minutes.

"Oh, fine. Adrian take over, while I check over the bridge section and see how progress is doing." And so Bach left, leaving the others behind.

"Well, Master Sephiroth, as you may want to know about the MA question, MA Jehovah is made from Lost Eden technology that only the Archangel Michael knows about it. Plus ever since we have obtained that artefact, we've tried to unlock its power, but so far there's no luck on actually activating the MA. The only clue that Eliza and Rufus found is that slot that fits only to according to some books, 'the sword of the Archangel Michael can only breaks its shell of Jehovah' or so they say."

"So, where does this 'Jehovah' lie within?"

"Apparently, the egg that MA Jehovah has yet to be 'born' is in the MA decking section below the floors of the Vatican. Let me show about this."

* * *

_MA Decking Area_

After a surprising quick trip to the auto-transport network, Bach's crew, along with Aerith and Sephiroth arrived at the MA docking, where the three MAs and a very large egg appear in front of them, as Adrian stepped out and cleaned his glasses before making a speech.

"Well, as you can see. This is where Jehovah is and somewhere, there is a small, thin slot. We've tried many types of sword, from Ancients to rapiers and none of them are activating the MA. We know it said 'the sword of the Archangel Michael', but we can't find the exact description."

"So," remarked Aerith as she knew how to solve this puzzle "if you tried many swords, why not use Sephiroth's Masamune?"

"What!" exclaimed everyone in the absence of Bach.

"Why do you want Masamune to fit into that hole?" asked Sephiroth. "Besides, this is just a weapon that I've been using to defeat the opponents."

"Who knows. Maybe that could be the description as told by some prophecy."

"Sigh. If you insist, but if this is the wrong sword, I'm blaming you for not hatching the egg."

And so, Sephiroth summoned Masamune onto his hands and proceeded to face with the Jehovah egg as he placed his long katana into the slot. At first, it didn't seemed excited, but then Masamune began to glow as very a bright light that would have blinded everyone, though thankfully they shielded their eyes using their arms. Even the One Winged Angel was surprised that Masamune fitted perfectly and then a voice was heard. A girl's voice inside his head.

_So, you've come to release me from the womb. I thank you for breaking the shell, son of Archangel Michael._

As Masamune was absorbed into the shell, cracks appear to show and then after the light disappeared and as everyone lowered their arms, Jehovah was born. 'Her' torso, limbs and head were all covered in jet-black, crimson and silver. What amazes Sephiroth and Aerith is that there is one special feature on Jehovah's back – the black wing, only the mechanized version of the One Winged Angel. Everyone was surprised at her appearance, only to be interrupted by Bach's surprising entrance along with his Martyrs 100 Observation models that looked like little girls cosplaying as Elegant Gothic Lolita with purple hair.

"Okay, I'm back from the bridge section and they con- WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" coolly said, then screamed Bach as he shocked that someone hatch Jehovah."

"Bach," explained Adrian as he smacked his captain on the head "that 'What the hell is that?' is the Lost Eden MA, Jehovah."

"Wha? You mean someone just solve the puzzle?"

"Hey, Bach!" exclaimed Rufus, as he was tired of being waited for outbursts. "Hurry up! I want to get on my Dominion, before waiting for a hour bore on arugements!"

"Fine! But first, better explain to Aerith and Sephiroth about the controls of the MAs.

Well, as you can see, the Martyrs have confirmed that Jehovah is in fact a MA made with Lost Eden technology, but like the other MAs, this requires two pilots to control this huge one! Sadly, you two are left with Jehovah, since I pilot Anima with Adrian, Rufus and Alda pilot Dominion and finally, YESHUA and Eliza pilot Lakia."

"Wait, you mean I'm the pilot of the MA Jehovah, along with Aerith! Are you insane?" exclaimed Sephiroth as he was in protest about her abilities. "She and I don't know about controlling this huge monster, not to mention this is way beyond Gummi technology!"

"Don't worry, Sephiroth! These MAs are controlled by using your thought and a few buttons that Aerith controls are a bunch of weapon uses. Anyways, we're are out of the Heart Star System and entered into the Ishtar Solar System. So, guys get ready for position! We're heading to Mateel!"

"Yeah, but still…"

* * *

_The cockpit inside the MA Jehovah_

"That Bach never answered my question." Sephiroth moaned as he put his hands on his head.

"Don't worry, Sephiroth." Aerith mildly smiled as she was below Sephiroth, since he pilots the huge mecha. "I'm sure Bach is a nice person. You just need to be patient."

"Yes, but still. I'm not a person that would like waiting for at least half hour to hear his complaints."

He looked at the surroundings that although he can see Aerith from below, there was a screen surrounding them as if they were literally floating in the area. Though thankfully, they were at a hybrid of sitting and standing positions and that the projection had screens of text, showing the location of the current position, as well as the planets' names. Then, a screen came out of nowhere appear both on Aerith and Sephiroth showing, Bach inside the cockpit of Anima.

"I guess you're comfortable with Jehovah, huh?" was Bach's first question to them, well since it was their first time controlling Jehovah.

"Well, when you say comfortable, you mean with Aerith right?" was Sephiroth's first reply to Bach on-screen. "I mean, she's not capable of fighting a few monsters or so."

"Yeah, but she'll be with you, since you're strong enough to protect her fragile body."

"Inside the cockpit! You've got to be kidding me!"

"Oh well." Bach had completely ignored the One Winged Angel's complaint, much to his discharge and after a few buttons, he spoke again, only to everyone. "Right, are the MAs in position?"

"Yes." Replied Sephiroth as he tried to hide his anger towards the aloof guitarist.

* * *

_The cockpit inside the MA Dominion_

"Yep, all done and dusted." Rufus replied happily. Alda just smiled below Rufus's position.

* * *

_The cockpit inside the MA Lakia_

"Affirmative." That was all YESHUA could say, since robots do not have emotions.

"We're ready for departure." replied Eliza happily as she did a little tinkering with a few buttons on a holographic keyboard.

* * *

"So, when can leave this ship?" asked Sephiroth as his anger has been risen slightly. 

"About thirty seconds and Zack over at the bridge would tell you the sequence, though he's a bit slow on counting down the numbers." And then another screen appeared out of nowhere, though it was Zack, looking a bit disgust about Bach's comment.

"Excuse me, but a bit slow? I think you've just misheard me." Smirked Zack with his spiky dark brown-black-ish hair "Well, anyway. Aerith and Sephiroth, you'd be better if you sit back, as this is will be a roller coaster."

The female voice that was just the computer have started the announcement of a countdown and once it reached to 'zero', Aerith and Sephiroth were thrusted into the unknown and suddenly, they were in space, in a metaphorical sense. No wonder, the blanket of stars looked so wonderful, yet at the same time, melancholic as there was no life. Near at the Jehovah's position, was the planet – Mateel – where the atmosphere is deadly, despite being covered in a pure white cover.

"Beautiful." Aerith could only say one word, as she amazed this pretty new world.

"Yet, at the same time, deadly. Like me." That was Sephiroth's only reply.

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

"…"

* * *

_Somewhere on the surface of Mateel_

First, it was Jehovah landing at this strange new world, next Dominion, who looked like a cross in-between a red Chinese dragon with some strange sensors at the front. Next it was Anima, with its wings like an eagle and an model like a person, only a hybrid, mecha form of it And finally, Lakia, a blue and silver of a cat-like model with a tail attached to it, though only it is floating slightly.

Then through the communication from Anima, Bach made a happy announcement, though only Sephiroth thought it was more of a torture, than a happy one.

"Right, according to our locations, the artefact should be found near approximately five kilometres away. Let's move everyone."

* * *

_Author's Notes: Yes, I have deliberately put Rufus Shinra and Aeris/Aerith's old boyfriend, Zack into the Kingdom Hearts universe. But then, this is in the FF7 category, so better to put two of my three favourite male FF7 characters, besides Sephiroth himself and give them different roles, since they don't remember their roles in the FF7 universe._

_And I've also made some video games references to it, can you guess who is it mainly largely to? And don't really complain about Sephiroth being the son of the Archangel Michael, because I haven't even told you about that yet. And just be patient on the love side of the Aeriseph stuff, it will be some time until either of them have finally confessed their love._

_Right, keep those reviews coming and any anti-Aeriseph ones can be used as Doctor von Hagen's latest autopsy. _


	4. Journey Three: Direction

**_Journey Three – Direction_**

"_Mummy, why do I have a black wing on my back?"_

"_Sephiroth, dear. I wish I like to tell you about it, but I don't want to see your sad face."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because…"

* * *

_

"Sephiroth!" Aerith shouted as she had a hard time getting used to the new technology and waking him up. "Did you just daydream about something?"

"…Uh, no. I was thinking about something." He replied with a sad tone. He kept thinking about why he did bothered to be with Aerith for company, but his mind told him to protect her, even they are bound together in a MA for a while.

It felt like the journey on the planet was on for days, maybe weeks, but thanks to the technology that were alien to Aerith and Sephiroth, the journey felt more like minutes as the MAs Dominion, Anima, Lakia and Jehovah walked on the most horrendous landscapes, where only the most foul creature could ever survive and no human would ever come back alive from the surface, well YESHUA could survive, but still even he could not make it outside the atmosphere.

And after crossing over sad tones of river, forests and rocky surfaces, they have finally found the artefact's location – in that cave. Great, to Sephiroth himself that finding key items in the caves are just nothing but clichés.

"Great and of all places, we find the artefact somewhere in this dark cave," moaned Bach, via the communicator from Anima.

"Oh shut up, Bach!" exclaimed Rufus in Dominion. "At least we can bag the reward and let Eliza and I do the work. Isn't that right?"

"Yeah, Rufus." Replied Eliza in Lakia. "The artefact shouldn't be that far. All we've got to do is to get our reward and get back to the Vatican ASAP."

"Still, I'm feeling that there's something wrong in this quiet environment." Aerith warned to everyone in Jehovah. "I don't know how to put my finger on it, but I'm getting strange disturbances from the Jehovah's sensors."

"Bach, Rufus." Ordered Sephiroth for the first time since he knew that there was something wrong about the situation. "Stay here and guard the entrance. YESHUA and I are going to the cave."

"WHAT!" Both of the pilots of the Dominion and Anima exclaimed to Sephiroth

"Now, Sephiroth's giving orders to the captain of the Vatican?" Bach surprisingly asked.

"Bach, you're sometimes so naïve giving out orders from Sephiroth." Mockingly remarked Adrian as he was putting his hand on his head inside the cockpit. "Besides, you're an idiot in being a leader."

"Hey! Who told you to be so sarcastic to me?"

"Nearly everyone of us." Everyone, except for YESHUA who said nothing, replied, which made Bach's esteem lowered.

"Sigh. Fine, just this time, let's followed Sephiroth's order, before I argue myself."

* * *

It has been only half an hour, since Jehovah and Lakia have entered into the dark cave, to which the artefact was located deep within the area and Dominion and Anima were left outside guarding like dogs, only Bach was complaining more than Adrian's sarcasm. 

However, meanwhile, Jehovah and Lakia were getting closer to obtain the artefact. Aerith, inside the Jehovah cockpit felt a disturbance was nearby where the artefact's location is.

"Sephiroth, I don't know if you can sense it, but there's something strange. Something we shouldn't go there."

"I know."

Silence then followed for the rest of the journey and finally, their treasure path have reached the end. The artefact looked small, but as the MAs walked further, it looked magnificent. A gold hollow globe with rings attached to each and there in the centre of the globe, was a gold arrow loosely pointing downwards, but it was standing still as if nothing was being activated. Only then they have found out they were two holes at the bottom that were needed to activate its true potential.

* * *

_The cockpit inside MA Lakia_

"Ah, I'm on it." Explained Eliza quickly, without giving both Aerith and Sephiroth a second to order, as she typed the recordings of the discovery. "Hmm, that's interesting. According to my computer, there are two holes that are required to activate the artefact. YESHUA, can you analyze it, please?"

"Affirmative." He replied without a second to hesitate. "I will proceed to analyze the data found on the MA Lakia's sensors." Then his eyes turned pearl blue and was in a trance. However, when Eliza proceeded to type some more data, she saw a warning screen that says 'Enemies approach – Type – Unknown alien'.

"What!"

* * *

A loud crash was heard behind the MA Jehovah and suddenly, a huge spear tried to pierce the Wing, though thankfully thanks to Sephiroth's ability to detect enemies from behind a second even better than Sora, jumped into the air as his thoughts were controlled, grabbed its version of Masamune from its back, via a few buttons pressed by Aerith and slashed on the oncoming enemy. 

However, it missed Jehovah's Masamune as it came from behind Lakia's position and thankfully, Jehovah managed to use its black wing to fire as many small missiles and damaged some to the unknown enemy. But the unknown enemy disappeared.

* * *

_Meanwhile, back at the outside of the cave. Inside the Anima cockpit_

"Oh, I'm bored!" complained Bach, as he looked nothing to the dull sky. "When are those guys coming back!"

"If you are complaining one time, I am resigning from your position to be your co-pilot!" Adrian exclaimed, as his cool expression was beginning to show some cracks.

"Oh, Adrian! That's not a good way to say to your friend!"

"Well, the longest time you complain about being bored is when we're got from Second Eden's moon for around three hours!"

"Yeah, but still."

"Will you stop with the 'yeah, but still' part?"

Then their argument was interrupted when Rufus was on-screen looking concern.

"Bach! Adrian! Bad news! Unknown enemy's at twelve o'clock!"

"WHAT!" both exclaimed.

* * *

Suddenly a huge blue-toned samurai-like mecha was slashing between the two MAs, but luckily they managed to intercept and used beams and rocket missiles, only to let the mecha dodged. And then the dark, smooth voice was heard through the communicators. 

He chuckled at the start. "So this is where you are, Bach."

"What do you want, you gatecrasher?" shouted Bach, as he try to maintain his Anima in position with the laser guitar-like shield, while Dominion managed to stagger as it is positioning with those double guns attached from its back.

"Just wondering what are you going to do, when retrieving that ridiculous prize of yours?"

"SHUT UP! I DON'T NEED SOME OF THAT CRAP FROM YOU!"

"Really? I hope that my friend is enjoying inside there."

"What!"

* * *

_Jehovah cockpit_

"I'm trying to trace the source the enemy's track, but it seem it has scrambled its signal." Explained Eliza as she was on screen with Aerith. "Sorry, Aerith."

"That's okay, Eliza. Just keep analyzing, while Sephiroth and I are trying to sort the problem out." She smiled, but was cut short by an unknown young female as she laughed.

"So, you must be the guys from the Heart Star System, eh?" Appearing out of nowhere, tiny green missiles shot toward at Aerith and Sephiroth's position.

"Dammit! Aerith, you're not paying attention!" shouted Sephiroth with bitterness as he managed to dodge the missiles at the last minute. As the sensors picked the target, it looked a cross between a green-toned cute Japanese-school girl with double beam blades on each 'hand'.

"Ah, so you've found me." Slyly said the mysterious green mecha. "Wow, no wonder the One Winged Angel can handle the Jehovah's powers."

"All right, just who the hell are you?" Sephiroth angered as he positioned Jehovah to his defensive stance.

"And if I don't and attack at that MA?"

"…"

Unfortunately for that green mecha, rays of light appear from below its feet and raised the ground, sending damage, though only partially as Jehovah appear floating behind it, ready for Masamune to strike.

"…you won't attack Lakia, but unless you give me your name, I'll guess I have to use force."

* * *

_Jehovah cockpit_

"Aerith, get ready for the Angel counterattack."

"What!" Aerith exclaimed as she laid her hands on the holographic keyboard.

"Aerith, I know this is our first battle against a mecha, but you've got to trust me. I don't know what are the capabilities Jehovah are, but if I use my techniques from the Olympus Coliseum, maybe I could use the same to her."

Aerith was worried about Sephiroth's risky strategy, but nodded to him, feeling that he saved her once and smiled. "All right, but don't let me see you rescuing me on your arms!"

_Come on Eliza! Hurry up with YESHUA's data! _That was all Aerith could thought.

* * *

_Meanwhile back outside_

The blue mecha proved stronger than the pilots of Anima and Dominion has expected as it attempted to slash mainly on Bach's MA, though only shielding most of the time, and Rufus's MA trying his best to break the blue mecha's shell that surround it. Bullets fell down and reloading again, with dodging from the blue mecha's missiles.

* * *

_Dominion cockpit_

"Shit!" Rufus exclaimed with anger as he moved his arms to the target. "And I thought the aliens from the Hearts Star System were hard! I can't find his weak spot!"

"Well, you'd better save your ammo Rufus, before it reaches below fifteen percent!" replied Alda with the same expression.

"What! Fifteen percent? Great! Alda, switch to weapon mode. I'm going to batter his shield to pieces!"

"Aye, aye Rufus!" With a few keys pressed on the keyboard, action has changed.

* * *

From a double wielding gunner, Dominion put his guns behind from behind and grabbed its beam sword, to become a robotic swordsman as it dived into the blue mecha's shield. Luckily, it gave time for Anima to change its long range weapon to claw-like arms to intercept the blue mecha's attack. 

"Oh, so your friend decided to use weapons." Chuckled the blue mecha pilot. "Well, then. Let's see if your direct offence is better than going long range!"

* * *

_Back inside the cave_

With the green mecha's god-like agility, it was hard for Aerith and Sephiroth to control Jehovah's defence, since the One Winged Angel was better suited to combat personally than with a woman that has no experience in the battlefield piloting a mecha and Lakia was defenceless, as YESHUA inside it was gathering information and have no time to make action and reinforced.

However, as soon as the green mecha jumped high into the air, Jehovah changed position from defence to offence as it brought Masamune down, charging like a holy light. Sephiroth knew he had trapped that pest, where he can intercept.

"AERITH, NOW!" He shouted with all his might, as he moved his arms and below, Aerith pressed the all-important button. One phrase that united their attack –

"ARCHANGEL'S BLADE!"

Jehovah swung Masamune toward the green mecha with that bright holy power that could have blinded her and caused some considerable damage. Meanwhile, back at the Lakia's position and inside the cockpit, Eliza couldn't believe that no one would ever did that technique, since MA only have limited powers on the damage ratio to their techniques based on the coordination of both the pilot and the co-pilot. Then, YESHUA spoke to Eliza, after finished being in trance for a while.

"Eliza, I have finished analyzing the artefact and now storing it. Would you like me to reinforce with Sephiroth's MA Jehovah?"

"Yes, but be in your guard. I don't know about the energy level in Jehovah, but appears to be in halfway stage."

It might seem over that the green mecha was completely destroyed by that powerful slash. Yet, despite that, out of the ashes, she was still standing, on the verge to be a scrapheap and staggering.

"I…won't…give…up…for…the…LIKES OF YOU!" she screamed as her doubled-edge blades was too quick for Jehovah to defend itself quickly, but then unexpectedly, Lakia came in just in time, using those beam tonfa-like weapons, cross-armed in front of Aerith and Sephiroth's MA. "WHAT!"

"Sephiroth, Aerith. I have retrieved the artefact and contacted the Vatican." Explained YESHUA via a communicator, as he tried to maintain to stay his arms in position. "It is likely that we shall retreat using Lakia's smokescreen mechanism and move out of the cave. The process will commence in less than thirty seconds. Is that okay?" Sephiroth couldn't agree more to get out of this hellhole and after the countdown, Lakia proceeded with the action and the two MA were gone. As for the green mecha however, she was more pissed-off that she couldn't finished them.

"COME BACK HERE!" She shouted, until a communicator from far away, came a sweet, yet deadly voice.

"Leave them alone. I've contacted Ryoujin to retreat from outside the cave, so your mission is complete Bellima."

"But I haven't even obliterated Jehovah and Lakia, Master!"

"Don't destroy them yet. We've still got time."

* * *

_Seconds later outside the cave_

"Finally," Bach relieved as he finally communicated with Lakia and Jehovah "where have you been?"

"Where have I been?" Sephiroth snorted. "I was being attacked by that green freak, you fool!"

"Green freak?" remarked Rufus. "You should have seen us having trouble with that blue samurai mecha, while you're down there with Lakia!"

"Wait, you said a blue samurai mecha?" Aerith asked. "Does that mean that one and the green mecha we've fought worked for someone? What happened?"

"Well, one minute that blue freak was acting like an insane person driving a car in road rage, the next minute, he disappeared into the sky.

"Well, that's our least of the worries. Eliza, got the artefact yet?"

"Yep, Bach and it's already been in place and YESHUA contacted the Vatican." Eliza said happily. "We can now analyze the name of the artefact, so let's get back!"

* * *

_Meeting room, Vatican_

Sephiroth was glad he was out of Jehovah, but still disappointed that Aerith sat next to her and yet, he was relieved that she did all right on defeating, but not necessarily destroying her enemy. In the centre was the artefact that would have sold millions of munnies, gils or whatever currency the Star System or the Solar System came from.

"Well guys. This is it, the uh- Adrian, what's it called again?" asked Bach as he forgotten what was the artefact's name.

"For the love of…" Adrian moaned, wishing he had Zack as his captain than the guitarist. "Sigh. This here, is Seraphiel's Compass and according to Rufus and Eliza, after several hours researching this, would be the most useful navigation piece of equipment to unlock Lost Eden, if we only have two objects to activate the procedure. So any suggestions of where we could find them?" Zack raised his hand for the first time, since he is third-in-command of the Vatican. "Yes, Zack what is it this time?"

Zack smiled as he knew where the answer might lie. "So when can we get back to Second Eden?"

"For the last time Zack, as soon as Bach gives out orders, whether he wants to or not." And with that, Zack sighed.

"Adrian, I found the location of where the two objects might lie." YESHUA told in most ways that robots and cyborgs do.

"So, do you know where they are?"

"Yes, as I analyzed the holes that were found under the compass, I have located on ninety-nine percent probability rate – the fourth planet from the Amano Solar System – Terra."

"Terra?" Aerith and Sephiroth asked in confusion.

"Yes, even though Terra has similar atmospheres that could be found on some planets in the Hearts Star System, there are some disturbances from the surface. As I can point out, there are humans living in there, but out of the approximately five billion people, there are only two people who carry those objects."

"Just tell me who, before Bach complains about the suspense program Eliza installed." Commented Zack with an expression that could only described as funny.

"Hey!" exclaimed Eliza with disgust.

"One is the last survivor of the ancient tribe that protected Terra ever since its birth who called themselves Cetra, though only a half-breed. Another, a human infected with alien cells that is being manipulated by his so-called mother."

"What was his so-called mother's name, YESHUA?" Sephiroth asked with some interest about these two new discoveries.

"Jenova."

* * *

_Author's Notes: Firstly, I would like to thank Black Malva and majinvegeta321 for putting me for the support of continuing to do the 'epic sci-fi-action/adventure-love' fanfiction. Without you, I'll be ending up not finishing it._

_These action scenes, I admitted I'm not good at making those, so once again, I'll let you, the readers and Aeriseph fans, to do that in your imagination and enjoy what my brain has come up with. And yes, there is a little bit of FF7 reference as Aerith, Sephiroth & Co. head into the next Journey to uh, the FF7 world. Hmm, I wondered what the reaction will be like when KH Sephiroth meets FF7 Sephiroth or worse, KH Aerith meets FF7 Aeris. Laughs like an idiot Two mysterious characters that were last seen in Journey Two have been named – Bellima green stranger and Ryoujin blue stranger. I haven't decided what to name their mecha or MA yet, so please be patient._

_As far as I'm concerned, many readers would be about Sephiroth's Masamune of how he gets his prized katana out. Well, think of it as a car key. Insert the key, start the ignition and after a journey, take it out. Just don't ask the mechanism similar to him; I'm not really a huge fan of science fiction – just medium really._

_I can't be bothered telling people to bring at least 5 reviews or so to do the next chapter, because of the Xmas holidays. So please review and any anti-Aeriseph mail will used as a nice fireplace to warm my feet._


	5. Journey Four: Relfection

**_Journey Four – Reflections_**

_He was in a field of roses, where though it is such a peaceful moment to have a perfect blue sky with a few clouds, it was also melancholic that he was alone. All alone without everyone._

_Where am I? – Sephiroth thought to himself, unaware he was walking at the same time – I see nothing, but a field of roses._

_He was walking to nowhere, uninformed how long he walked for seconds, minutes, maybe hours or God forbid, days. Until he stopped at the end, where he saw a tree; leaves bristled by the wind and underneath the enclosed branches, a girl kneeling down on the ground and stroking a brown rabbit. She looked like twelve, with light brown eyes, European face and long, dark chestnut brown hair._

_Then she looked at him, but instead of screaming of impending doom, she smile to him, showing a relief to Sephiroth that there's at least another person who wasn't afraid of him._

"_You've got a lovely wing." She spoke with a gentle, calm voice for the first time. "Tell me, what's your name?"_

"_Uh, pardon?(!)" politely exclaimed Sephiroth. "Oh, my name. It's Sephiroth."_

"_Sephiroth, huh? That's a beautiful name for a person like you."_

"_Uh, thanks. I've never expected someone like you to take a complement. However, I don't know your name, besides ever meeting you, if I recall."_

"_You're welcome and my name's Jehovah."_

"_Jehovah!"_

"_Yes." She nodded to him, being polite to him. "And I thank you for giving me birth out to the sky."_

"_But why did you appear to my dream, only when I see you as a big robot!"_

"_Don't worry, Sephiroth. All will become clear later on, but first, you must do me a favour."_

"…"

"_When you wake up from this dream, you must protect the one your heart is destined to."_

"_Yes, but I don't have one!"_

"_Yes, you do. Remember your first encounter with her?"_

"…_My first encounter?"

* * *

_

_Sephiroth's bedroom, Vatican_

He sat up quickly and began to wake. Much to his disappoint, he was still in hyperspace, via that landscape window about thirty centimetres away from him and that bed, that was enroute to the Amano Solar System. His head was a little fuzzy, but the last time he had was when everyone agreed to get the objects from Terra and back. Simple as that. Then, the door opened itself automatically to reveal Aerith as she was holding some stacks of clothes – maybe for him.

"Haven't ever heard of knocking door, before entering?" Sephiroth asked in a sarcastic way.

"No, but it's harder to get used to Bach's technology than the Gummi ones." Giggled Aerith calmly as she put some clothes down on the futuristic desk and turned to his attention. "Eliza told me that since our clothes have gotten dirty, she gave us some to put us on."

"Why can't she do that herself?"

"Well, let's just say, she's 'too busy doing some modifications on YESHUA' or something. Oh, and one more thing. She gave me this." Aerith threw of what is the sheath for Masamune to Sephiroth as he perfectly caught it, while stood up from the bad. "She said this is for Masamune, since after some research, you can sheath it in, regardless of the length."

"Wait, how did she know that?"

"You ask her, not me! I'm not good at science!" And then, she left. Sephiroth looked at the medium-large-ish sheath Eliza made for his Masamune and it felt smooth, thanks to its black lacquer finishing and at the end there were simple, yet effective platinum designs of Chinese dragons spiralling each other. At Sephiroth's grip, was silky, yet firm thick strings that can be tied securely.

_At least, she has good artisanship in sheaths. _He thought and afterwards proceeded to the clothes that Aerith provided. Fortunately, the garments were the same colour as he wore before, yet instead of his trench coat, this was Japanese male attire. _…And has good taste in fashion, surprisingly. Though, why would she choose this?

* * *

_

_Bridge, Vatican_

"So, how long we have to bore ourselves, till we reach the Amano Solar System, again?" Bach repeatedly asked with more moans than a person complaining about a lack of flavour into food, as he looked at the screen, still in hyperspace mode, in front of the central command system.

"For the last hundredth time, in about TEN MINUTES!" Adrian finally outbursts in anger, behind Bach's position on the navigation control unit.

"Actually Adrian, it's around fifteen minutes." Recalled one of the Martyrs below, as she typing.

"Yeah and we've about a hour away to Terra guys." Explained Rufus with a dull expression on his face on the planet navigation unit, also behind him.

"Sheesh. Bach, if you are going to complain about space travel, why can't you go into the tourism business?" suggested Zack, as he was piloting the Vatican below Bach's position.

"Hey! I can do whatever I want! Who told you to be the boss of all-things alternative!"

Unfortunately for Bach to carry on lingering useless rants to the crew on the bridge, Aerith's voice can be heard, as the whirring noise of the lift took to the bridge.

"Wow! I never knew the bridge could be bigger than the Gummi version of it!"

Bach and the rest of the crew, except for the Martyrs, obviously as they have their roles to perform, were astonished that apart from Alda just walking out to check out the progression, how different both Aerith and Sephiroth looked as they walked in front of Bach.

Firstly, Sephiroth looked more of a samurai, despite there's still his black wing trademark on his back, he wore jet-black hakama trousers – though underneath it, he still wore his knee-length boots – two layers of robes wrapped around his body and arms, one plain white behind and deep crimson in front covered by a black hari, tied neatly in place. What has noticeable to him, was that he was gloveless and for the first time, Masamune and its sheath are being bound to his left hip part of his hakama trousers.

And Aerith. By gods she looked more beautiful and comfortable wearing that! Aside from a plain pink tee shirt combined with red, embroidered sleeveless top and covered with a cherry cotton cardigan; her almost-ankle-length pink with flower-design skirt was slightly more loose that was suited to run around like this in dangerous situations. The only parts she didn't seem to change was her boots, her blue belt, the bangles underneath her cardigan and that chocker-like bow necklace.

The only person spoke to the two individuals' change of clothes was Bach, though only more slowly.

"Did…Eliza…put…them…for…you?"

"Uh, yes." Aerith replied, though she was confused about the position of why everyone has gone silent "But, what's with that look all of the sudden?"

"Uh, nothing. That Eliza surely has good taste in fashion and colour. Speaking of which, where is she?"

"I'm right behind you!" shouted Eliza's voice, as she and YESHUA soon followed the party. "So, any news on the position on the course, Bach?"

"In detail, what I see here is nothing but blurry stars."

"Bach, we're still in hyperspace." Remarked Adrian.

"What? Sigh, we're nowhere near Terra then."

"Don't you start complaining rubbish again…"

"Hey guys!" exclaimed Rufus as he sat up from his chair. "I think we're in Terra's position now! Hey, Martyrs! Stop hyperspace now!"

"Yes, sir." Replied them.

As soon as the hyperspace disappearance and entered the blanket of stars, Terra was there. Magnificent, yet quiet and worse when coming on surface. However, there were signs of life – land, some green, brown; grey with a hint of white and desert yellow and the rest was pure blue ocean.

"Wow, I've never seen Terra this big and beautiful!" amazed Aerith as she looked at the planet's size.

"The only problem is, where are we going to land, not to mention where are the two people who are carrying the objects?" asked Sephiroth in an intelligent manner as he crossed his arms.

"Don't worry. According to the computer, the two objects are presently going to what is known as the Lost City of the Cetras or Ancients and we can land near it, as soon as possible".

* * *

_Lost City of Ancients, Terra_

The environment was lonely. It looked more alien than the other parts as the party first stepped on to the land, since there was no need for MAs and the atmosphere was safe for them to breathe.

"Now I know why they called it lost." Aerith remarked sadly, walking behind YESHUA and Eliza, who were first in line. Behind the woman was in pink was Adrian, followed by Rufus, then jointly Alda and Bach and finally Sephiroth, who was 'checking on the party', as well as looking out for surprises.

"According to the positions from the bridge," emotionlessly explained YESHUA as he was still walking "one of the objects is around one metre away, whereas the other object, I cannot specify this."

"What!" exclaimed Bach. "Wait, I thought you know where the two objects were and you're still not found that!"

"Bach, please shut up!" Eliza quietly exclaimed as she was still walking "YESHUA only spots our objectives when he picks up detail and besides, he's not some Super Robot that automatically detects far away stuff! Ah, there we are."

The party stopped to see this strange big shell building and next to it was a pure blue lake. Each one was amazed about the way the Cetras built, despite themselves were in the brink of extinction.

"I wonder if I call contact an architect nearby." Joked Bach, as he stood still and looked at the beauty of the building.

"Bach, this isn't the time to play jokes at this time around." Groaned Adrian as he mentally slapped his head.

* * *

_Inside the Ancients or Cetra Building, Terra_

After a surprisingly quick trip to the flight of stairs that led to the interior of the building, the party managed to enter another beautiful and melancholic large room that has water and strange towers leading up to the supposed altar. However, in the midst of the quiet atmosphere, Aerith found someone that she found to be most shocking yet.

"No way!" She exclaimed as she looked closely to the person on the altar and placed her hands on her mouth. "That can't be me! Well, except for the clothes. I mean, her face, she looks like me!"

"What!" Bach, soon followed the exclamation "Wait, so there are two Aeriths now!"

"Bach, I think you're over-exaggerated a bit." Rufus alleged with frustration. "So, Alda, has that chick got one of our treasures?"

"I bet you're right, Rufus." Replied Alda with a hint of happiness.

Behind the party, Sephiroth heard something that only he could hear from a bat's hearing distance.

"Someone's coming from where I'm standing."

"WHAT!" They exclaimed with surprise.

"It's best that we should hide somewhere the oncoming party won't be suspicious."

"Yeah, for once Sephiroth." Regrettably moaned Bach. "You're probably right about that."

* * *

"So what's the plan of getting that object from her?" Alda asked quietly with some concern that obtaining one of them might not be easier than told.

"We have to look at the situation first, before deciding the course for action." Adrian whispered the answer.

It was a good idea for the party to hide, where the oncoming party was never suspicious they were there, but a bad one as they were standing on water.

_Oh, why can't Bach just let us hide in a dry place? _Adrian thought with some bitterness that his friend was lousy as being captain.

Then something happened as the party caught their eyes. An adult male with spiky blonde hair jumped on each tower, clutching with his huge sword and when he reached the altar, he was ready to strike on the girl!

"NO!" Aerith, with tears running, tried to shout quietly and ran towards the girl to warn, but Sephiroth grabbed by her left arm. "Sephiroth, let me go! I've got to save her!"

"And let some people from over there get into turmoil with us, while you're defenceless without a weapon?" he warned with concern and cold face. "Aerith, we have no choice! If you expose yourself to them, they'll be confused on which one is the person on the altar and the mission goes bust."

"But…" Then she saw his sad, bright green eyes that was full of concern for her safety. She tried temporarily to hold back her tears. "…all right, if you say so, Sephiroth."

Aerith still looked at the current situation and was relieved that the spiky blonde person put his sword down. Then out of surprise for a few moments, another person came down from nowhere and did the most horrendous event that Aerith screamed quietly. However, YESHUA jolted his head and announced:

"That person also carries another object."

"What!" quietly exclaimed everyone.

"There is 99.99 percent probability that he carries the same object as the girl, though only now in the location of the deep section."

"So, anyway plans for action Sephiroth?" Adrian softly suggested as he was fed up with Bach's approach.

"Yes, but it requires precise timing and full cooperation." He replied with confidence.

* * *

"You bastard!" Cloud gasped as he picked up the now lifeless Aeris. "WHY DID YOU KILLED HER?"

"She was a threat, dear brother." Sephiroth slyly chuckled as he looked upon his 'dear brother'. "By killing her, she can no longer summon Holy to our world."

"You can't be ser…" Cloud was interrupted when a tranquilizer coming out of nowhere was hit on his neck, sending him into unconscious. And soon a bullet of tranquilizers came into Cloud's party and the silver hair man was confused and angry about something went awry. Suddenly, he saw a black blur incoming to him and though he successfully defended, he was actually surprised by this stranger's appearance as he landed on the wall.

_A black wing! _He thought to himself angrily _His face, his eyes. He looks like me!_

The Sephiroth on the wall chuckled as he is in the position to unsheathe Masamune. "So, you must be Jenova's boy."

* * *

"Okay, let me get this straight." Alda remarked as she replaced her cartridges from her back that was loaded onto her guns. "Sephiroth told me to send those people to dreamland with 6-hour tranquilizer bullets and while he can distract that person and attempts to take that object, Eliza orders YESHUA to go to the deep end and get another? Wow, that's one risky strategy for the One Winged Angel."

"Well, you wouldn't call him a bad luck for nothing." Aerith replied as she helped Eliza on configuring YESHUA's position down under water.

"Gah!" Eliza frustratingly exclaimed as she had some problems typing on water. "And YESHUA's only five hundred metres away to the object!"

"And what do the rest of us get?" Bach complained. Fortunately for him, some hideous alien appeared from nowhere as it has decided to gatecrash the conversation. "On second thought…"

"All right, let's party!" Rufus happily exclaimed as he whipped out his shotgun from behind and Alda positioned her guns at the strange alien.

"For once, Rufus. I agree." Adrian replied as he picked his scrolls from his blue sleeves from his Chinese suit and got into position.

"What the hell!" Bach soon followed that as he picked up his beloved guitar from his back. "Aerith! Eliza! Keep doing the work, while we're distract this gatecrasher!"

* * *

Clash after clash with both Masamunes clinging on to each other, Sephiroth tried everything to get off guard to the other Sephiroth, who showed a valiant resistance.

_Dammit! I've never met someone this strong, the same as mine!_

Eventually, the other Sephiroth was angry to see that he met someone who has the same strength as he is in terms of power.

"Who are you and why did you intervene!" The other Sephiroth demanded the black wing person as he cast Bolt3 on to him.

"I am known as the carrier of destruction to this world as I've landed to this surface." Sephiroth announced calmly as he let his Masamune absorbed the Bolt3's magic and got into his offence position. "I am known as the One Winged Angel – Sephiroth!" And he strike his Bolt3 slash onto the person in black with some damage, though he valiantly fought back, only the One Winged Angel had to go on defence with his Masamune and some coverage to his black wing.

"Sephiroth! Oh that's good! There can't be two of me! Why aren't you with my mother!"

CLANG!

"I don't think your mother would ever been infecting with her sickly cells inside of me."

CLANG!

"Don't insult my mother, you black wing scum!"

CLANG!

"Oh, yeah. Would ever your mother be appearing somewhere here? Saying hello to my acquaintances?"

CLANG!

"Oh yes. She's here enjoying a 'conversation' with your friends right now!"

"Drat!" exclaimed Rufus as he was narrowly dodged by pink blob's tentacles. "She's a tough nut to crack!"

"Yeah and those tentacles are giving me a headache!" shouted Alda as she intercepted the oncoming tentacles with her bullets.

Bach meanwhile, stayed down, plucked his strings and let his wires do the work as he try to protect Aerith and Eliza from the alien's attacks.

"Dammit Eliza! How long does YESHUA have to swim that deep!" Bach shouted struggling to keep his wires intervening the alien's magic attacks.

"He's only got the object Bach and swimming back takes around approximately the same as diving down!" replied Eliza with some elements of panic as she was struggling to look at her laptop "Besides…"

* * *

_Before the battle_

"_Uh, are you sure?" Eliza nervously asked. "You might be called the One Winged Angel that carries bad luck, but isn't that a risky strategy?"_

"_Do we have a choice?" Sephiroth replied coldly. "Anyone has an alternative plan that doesn't involve death?"_

"_I'm not into violence, but I'm agreeing with him as a last resort." Aerith said with melancholy in her eyes._

"_Sigh, it might be a risky strategy, but I hope it'll work." Bach agreed as well._

"_Yeah, I'll second that to Master Sephiroth." Adrian also agreed._

"_Me three." Rufus settled as he loaded his bullets to his shotgun._

"_Maybe some bad luck might pay the work off." Alda decided without a second of hesitation._

"_Sephiroth's strategy would be the only correct and effective method to do." YESHUA explained with some elements of agreement. "I have calculated the probability of seventy-five point four five percent of success."_

"_So, is anyone agree to do this?" Sephiroth asked with confidence. Everyone, including Eliza and Aerith, raise their hand up, showing that his strategy can succeed. "Good and Eliza, could you do me a favour?"_

"_Huh? What do you want me to do?"_

"_Take care of Aerith, while I'll distract him and try to take that item from him."_

"_Uh, okay."

* * *

_

"WHAT! Sephiroth made you to take care of Aerith!" Bach exclaimed as he side-stepped away from more magic attacks and intercepted with his wire, via plucking his strings from his electric guitar.

"Bach! Less talk, more action!" Adrian shouted, while he kicked one of the limbs and produced a line of fire from one of his scrolls that soon exploded.

Aerith couldn't be sure whether she should help either them or Sephiroth, but when she looked at the latter, she found the One Winged Angel was just barely in defence as the other Sephiroth was winning by miles and the other one was quickly behind the defending Sephiroth as he was ready to strike down. What was her option, save Sephiroth from incoming death or be defenceless and let him die?

"SEPHIROTH, BEHIND YOU!" She cried with all her heart out.

* * *

_What could Aerith mean behind me…_Sephiroth, the One Winged Angel version, thought, until his head just jolted out _…Unless she's telling me danger's just around the corner! _

He dodged the other Sephiroth's slash and jumped to safety by a hair's breadth, only to lose a few black feathers and slit on his left cheek dripping his own blood. However, unnoticed to the One Winged Angel, the other Sephiroth noticed something bizarre when he looked at Aerith!

'_Mother!' _He mentally cried to his 'mother' Jenova. _'That Cetra is still alive there!'_

'**_WHAT?' _**Jenova exclaimed mentally

'_Yes, it's true! So, I didn't killed the last one after all.'_

'_**That's impossible! You've already the last Cetra and yet that bitch is still here!'**_

'_But she has got friends to protect herself.'_

'**_Just get them out of your way and kill her again for your mother's sake!'_**

'_Yes, mother. I will do anything for you!'_

After a 'nice' conversation, the other Sephiroth decided to ignore the One Winged Angel version of himself, directly summoned Aero3 to Bach and Eliza's positions, to which Bach's wires failed to intercept such commanding magic, ending up with her knocked on the wall and his wires themselves tied the two unlucky people. Now, it was Aerith alone – defenceless and without any single weapon – now that is perfect.

When Sephiroth found out on what the other one was doing, he dived down to the ground and protecting Aerith, no matter what are his own consequences are for the damage for only a few seconds.

_Dammit! I don't care what are the bloody consequences are for me! Aerith's weapon-less and defenceless and she needs me! I don't know why she drives me to protect her, but if I don't do it for her and…maybe Jehovah, I'll hang my head in shame._

Meanwhile, Aerith in her full of tears and fears, screamed for her life. The problem was, she was temporarily paralysed thanks to her kneeling down with Eliza too much and looking in terror as that edge of the sharp sword was oncoming on her stomach.

_Oh no! I'm paralysed! I can't move! And worse, I'm going to be killed like that girl!_

However, through the imagination of Aerith's eyes, she saw a light. A light that draws a young girl with an European face and kneel toward her.

"Do not worry." She spoke in a soft voice. "The one who saved you will protect you."

_But how do you know my thoughts?_

"You must believe in yourself and him that you will be saved from this fate." And then she faded slowly.

_Wait!_

Then the moment has arrived and everything was standing still.

STAB!

* * *

_Author's Notes: Ooh, a cliffhanger! To be honest, I was doing an one-off to do the chapter in the FF7 world, but then it proved too long and split it into a 'two-part episodes' plot. And yes, I did intentionally make Aerith and Sephiroth change clothes from their Kingdom Hearts counterparts, because when I looked at Aerith's clothes I thought that she must have felt uncomfortable wearing like for the rest of the journey and the same can be heard for Sephiroth. So, I made the clothes as described from the two paragraphs of their new clothes. And if anyone is asking me why Sephiroth is dressing up like a samurai, play (or buy or rent, then play) Xenosaga Episode II, be as Jin Uzuki and you'll get the idea._

_As for the action scenes, you'll do that in your imagination from your head and see what happens to Rufus, Alda and Adrian._

_And I thank once again to readers and Aeriseph fans who like to read this fanfiction. Without you, I'll lose interest big time. Next subject – The clothes for the characters, except for Aerith and Sephiroth who I already did that and Bach too. And sorry for Japanese culture fans, if I got the names wrong for the clothes._

_Reviews equal good as long as it's not flames. Anti-Aeriseph messages equals bad; they are immature people who won't accept a new minority in the FF7 and KH community._


	6. Journey Five: Valentine

_**Journey Five – Valentine**_

STAB!

Aerith couldn't hear the incoming sword poking in her stomach. In fact, when she opened her eyes and moved her arms, she wasn't in contact with it at all. Though what she saw was the back of the One Winged Angel and blood covered on his right hip as the tip of the other Masamune was on ground. She was horrified to see him in this condition, yet relieved that Sephiroth managed to save her again just in time.

However, as for Sephiroth himself, well sheath on his left hand, Masamune on his right and his black wing covered his face– crossed being his left forcing the other Masamune to be slightly off-degrees and his right giving the same exchange for his injury to the other Sephiroth, though the other one has his mouth spitting off blood. He was breathing in pain and wish Aerith was back in the Vatican.

"Why do you always intervene when I'm just doing my job for my mother?" gasped the other Sephiroth slowly.

"I've never intended seeing your mother's ugly face, when you're supposed to get your punishment." Slowly smirked Sephiroth as he was breathing gradually for life.

Then suddenly they heard a piercing scream.

Finally, after a shower of bullets and scrolls of magic disintegrated, that pink blob alien was at long last dead. Adrian, Alda and Rufus managed to catch their breaths and sighs when they call for a break.

"I need to tell Bach to get some more scrolls." Remarked he with glasses.

"In a good way, at least we got rid of that ugly alien to pieces." Alda said with happiness.

"Ugh, what a lucky person I am!" Rufus exclaimed with contentment. "I've the used the last three bullets from my pocket and they're all worth it. Now, where's Bach and Eliza?"

"I'M OVER HERE!" shouted Bach's voice.

They turned around and see the electric guitarist and the engineer left in the right mess when his wires tied him and her to the wall.

"What happened here?" Alda asked with a puzzled face.

"Let's just say Sephiroth Number Two blew us up there." Bach answered with a sigh. "And he doesn't want my encore."

"Bach, could you please stop with the jokes?" suggested Adrian with his head shaking. "It's detesting every minute."

"All right, as soon as you uncut Eliza and me!"

* * *

'_**My son, let us retreat for now.'**_

'_But mother, I haven't even killed the Cetra.'_

'_**She is not a Cetra from this world. I can tell.'**_

'_You mean she's from another world?'_

'_**Yes and I do not sense she has some powers to sense the Planet's call. Now leave them and go ahead with the plan.'**_

'_But what about the clone of myself?'_

'_**He does not have same powers as you and I. Just leave him be and proceed to our plan.'**_

'_Yes, mother.'_

And so, the other Sephiroth departed to the sky, leaving the One Winged Angel injured, yet still standing totter as he sheath his once very long Masamune back to normal and used it as a walking stick. Aerith, now paralysed-free, stood up and ran towards him as she supported him.

"Sephiroth…" She said sadly as she looked his calm face. "Why did you rescued me, even though you'll get yourself injured?"

"I don't know…ugh." Sephiroth replied with pain bound to him. "In a dream, there was this young girl and she told me to protect my heart is destined to. I've asked for her name and her name…is Jehovah."

_Jehovah? _"A young girl you say? Hmm. Speaking of which, what about the girl who was killed by an evil version of yourself?" Both of the characters went up slowly to the altar and saw Aerith's reflection – Lifeless, despite 'sleeping' like a baby.

"I'm sorry, Aerith." Sephiroth apologised with sorrow "There's nothing I can do to save her."

"That's okay." Aerith cried with tears flowing. "She didn't even say goodbye to her friends. And she was only young. At least we can do now is to rest her soul."

"…"

After a mournful silence, Eliza ran up to the two people and stopped to see this innocent girl killed.

"YESHUA…got back…from…the…surface…and…he's….got…what we…wanted for." Eliza panted when she got her breath back. "So, guys – have you got another one?"

Aerith completely forgot that there's one more puzzle to complete, though thankfully Sephiroth took out something from his left sleeve and there it was – a small, black glossy ball right on his palm.

"But…that's…er…" Aerith couldn't say she was amazed on Sephiroth's performance.

"Aerith, you do not need to ask." Sephiroth explained without giving her a time to enquire a question "All I did was while using my black wing and the taunts to distract that clone of myself, I quickly use my left hand from Masamune and with a bit of luck I've finally got that and put it where he's least suspect."

"That's great Sephiroth, but I'm worried about, if the other you knows that's he empty handed and decided to come back."

"Erm, let me fill that in." Eliza rudely interrupted as she walked over the unconscious spiky-blonde man. "You see, before we're landed on Terra, I looked upon some research and after some tinkering, I developed and made a fake materia."

"Materia?" both asked.

"Well, yeah. That's the people living in Terra are called to these spherical objects. So, now we're ready to get back to the Vatican, before Alda's tranquilizers is running out."

"Uh, can Sephiroth and I do one more thing to do, before heading off to space?" Aerith politely asked as she looked at her.

* * *

Cloud woke up, having a hard time sitting up from a bad hangover.

"Damn that Sephiroth." He groaned "Is this one of his…" He looked up and saw that Aeris had disappeared while being drugged. "No, that's impossible. She can't be alive."

"Cloud!" Tifa's voice shouted. "I've got some bad news! Vincent's disappeared!"

"What?(!)" Cloud exclaimed as he turned around and saw, apart from his party receiving too from tranquilizer hangover. "But what about Aeris?"

"I don't know. I've told Yuffie and Red to look for any signs after we've somehow drugged. As for Aeris, well…" The Female Fighter explained everything she knew, while the blonde swordsman jumped down from the altar. After a few moments, the young ninja and Red came back looking distressed.

"Guys!" Yuffie panted as she gained her breath "You won't believe this, but…"

"Cloud, you may want to go outside." Red calmly said as he was licking his fur.

The blonde swordsman ran as fast as he could without a reply – outside the Anicents' Temple and outside the building and the lake, until he saw a grave.

It wasn't a fancy grave, just two sticks tying like a cross and below there was a single bangle, two empty bullets, a lock of bright silver hair, a piece of paper that says 'May her soul Rest in Peace', a string; a little clockwork piece and a single black feather. Cloud could not believe this!

_Did they buried Aeris? _He thought, surprised to see this grave here. And then he looked up and what he saw was a bright celestial angel – two wings on the top and another two on the bottom and she looked at him. But wait! He squinted his eyes saw a figure that looked like Aeris and another that looked like…Sephiroth! He couldn't consider that this innocent Flower Girl is going to heaven with the person he hated the most and yet, both of them and waving to the blonde swordsman.

_What the hell!(?) Why on is Aeris with Sephiroth? I'm so confused! She's going to Heaven with that bastard!

* * *

_

_Lifting platform, Vatican_

"Aerith, are you sure you're leaving this girl to be buried and mourned by her friends?" Sephiroth asked with concern as he was bandaged after a couple of injuries and looked to the grounds that were turning once again into a green land.

"Yes, but I do think she'll haunt us, if she doesn't requested us for a funeral." Jokingly, but melancholy replied Aerith as she too, looked at the land below. "I think she'll be happy now her soul has laid to rest."

"I hope so. However, what about her blonde boyfriend?"

"He has to do this on his own. I've never met this person before, but I'm sure his wound would heal."

"Hey, guys." Announced Bach's voice as he broke this silent moment. "We'll be leaving Terra's atmosphere soon, so we'll be lifting this platform now. Is that okay?"

"Yes." Both said sorrowfully as the Vatican lifted beyond the sky, the lifting platform closed itself from the perfect blue sky and the celestial angel was in once more a black blanket of stars.

"You won't get away with this One Winged Angel." Hissed the other Sephiroth on the edge of the Northern Crater. "You may have deceived me on playing tricks, but I'll make you pay the price!" He then summoned that even a Ship couldn't handle safety in one piece – Supernova.

* * *

_Bridge, Vatican_

Silent.

Everyone was quiet after this sad incident on Terra. Aerith was crying softly, while Sephiroth had no choice but to give support via hugging her gently. Rufus, Adrian, Zack, Eliza and Alda did nothing other than not touching the holographic keyboard. However, the stillness was broken when Bach had enough of this 'tumbleweed' moment and spoke the very first time.

"Hey, don't be so frown. At least we've got what we've wanted."

"For the love of Eden, shut up Bach!" Adrian angrily said as he slammed on to the board. "You don't understand this situation we're doing! We're mourning for a girl that looks like Aerith! Can't you just have some respect for her!"

"But we don't know her, Adrian. I don't think she left Terra for a long time."

"Don't know her! Oh! You're so more emotionless than YESHUA, Bach! Argh!" And then Adrian left the bridge, feeling pissed off that Bach didn't understand the situation they are in.

"Uh, I think I'll go, where Adrian is." Aerith quietly remarked and went on to proceed to the lift.

"Erm, what Aerith says." Sephiroth hastily replied and soon followed her.

* * *

_Recreational Area, Vatican_

_Bach, you idiot. _Adrian angrily thought as he looked at the window that was now on hyperspace. He was in a space of life, well just. It has a few trees, plenty of floral life everywhere and in the middle of the area was a fountain that has little statues shooting out a stream of water and the Chinese-like adult was sitting on a marbled curved, long seat with a marbled curved table, though with technology inside, that was near the window.

"So, this is where you are going to." Remarked Aerith's voice, as soon as Adrian's head turned around and it was just her and Sephiroth, though the silvered hair man wanted to recline on the wall crossing arms.

"Did you get lost by the way or did the rest of the crew showed you the way?" he asked gently to her.

"Oh yes. We were a bit lost at first, but thankfully we got through." She then sat down next to him, as he looked to the window. "So, what's the matter with you?"

"You wouldn't want to know and don't understand this issue, Aerith."

"No, I'm really wanted to know about you and Bach. About your frustration with him every time he jokes an unfunny line."

"Well, he and I were friends, but I wouldn't recall that as best friends. In the past, every time he does something stupid, I either pull his ear and smack his head and take him to where no one would not normally come in. And for once, Johannes Bach isn't his real name, his given is Julian Yeager Jr."

"Julian Yeager Jr? You mean he's the son of the Yeager Enterprises CEO?"

"Yeah and I'll tell you the reason why he changed his name. A couple of years ago, his older brother, Lawrence died of leukaemia after his mother failed to produce a fourth child of the Yeager. Bach's so distraught; he thought it was all his fault that he was foolish himself and decided to commit suicide. However, being a friend to him is not only a curse for me, it's also a blessing to comfort him in a time of need. After some time of reflection, he was back to himself and decided to change his name, because he wanted his older brother to be with his past self and let the new him live on."

"Then you're remain friends with him for the rest of your life?"

"Not necessarily. He has some bits from his past intact that I find irritating."

Aerith laughed, "So, you are best friends till the end!"

However, the peaceful moment with the two people, with Sephiroth sniggered a bit after Adrian's punchline was broken up when they heard a klaxon and saw red flashing lights.

"WARNING. WARNING. AN Unidentifiable OBJECT IS APPROACHING TWO KILOMETRES AWAY TO THE VATICAN'S POSITION." Announced the emotionless computer

"What could it mean 'unidentifiable object?" Aerith asked to Adrian. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a storm of red grabbed her, jolting Sephiroth's head and ready to sheath Masamune, only to be backfired by Adrian in the way.

"What the?(!)" Adrian exclaimed as he was armed with scrolls and in position next to the swordsman.

"Adrian, be careful." Sephiroth warned as he positioned Masamune in offensive position. "Okay, now show yourself, red storm."

Thus the red storm transformed into someone that clutched Aerith struggling to free herself from his gold claw and his right hand holding a large gun.

* * *

_Bridge, Vatican_

"Dammit! Where the hell is Adrian?" Bach exclaimed as he was in a panic when looked at the holographic screen that showed a very large comet heading toward the Vatican's back.

"He just cut off his communicator, while you made him mad." Replied one the Martyrs who was typing on the keyboard fast.

"Oh, just shut up!"

"At any rate, it will come into contact with the Vatican in about five minutes and will produce fifty percent damage on the back and the engine." Said another Martyr typing very fast and hard.

"Worse, if it hits the borders of the hyperspace we're in, Bach." Rufus said in a concern look.

"Oh great! This is just great. Firstly, Adrian left without saying where's he going, along with Sephiroth and Aerith, now a very large comet is coming after us that even the Vatican's back beams won't work."

However, meanwhile Eliza's noticed that YESHUA has gone missing, since she took Adrian's temporarily position to be a navigator.

"Hey, guys. Where's YESHUA?" She worryingly asked as her head swung from left to right.

"WHAT?" was everyone's answer, to cut a long story short, on the bridge.

* * *

_Recreational Area_

"Just who are you and why did you stowaway in the Vatican?" Adrian asked coldly as he standing still, tensed in his position to see the red-cloaked stranger's action.

"And if I refuse and I shoot this girl instead?" frostily replied the red stranger.

"I won't let you harm Aerith…" came Sephiroth's voice from behind, as overlooked to the red stranger, the One Winged Angel quickly grabbed Aerith as he slid 'face-to-face' with him. "…however, I will punish you, if do not give us your name."

"If you insist, before your death, I am Vincent Valentine."

"Well, I like to have a chat with you, Mister Valentine, but I have tight schedule with the Captain, so sayonara!" Adrian smirked as he threw his scrolls down, producing a smokescreen for him, Aerith and Sephiroth to escape from Vincent's untimely meeting.

"That's great you've rescued me Sephiroth, but do you have to carry me?" She asked embarrassingly to Sephiroth, while running to the transporter that connects to the bridge's lift in a long, bright, futuristic corridor.

"Do you have fast legs, Aerith?" mockingly replied Sephiroth as he felt no strain on carrying her whatsoever.

"Hate to break your conversation, but that red blanket is still catching us behind!" exclaimed Adrian as he threw some more scrolls behind and he was right! That floating red blanket is catching on behind them.

* * *

_Bridge_

"Argh!" screamed Bach as he was about to rip his hat off to shreds. "With this problem going awry, what's going to go on next?"

Then, out of the blue behind his back, Adrian and Sephiroth, to which he is carrying Aerith, jumped from the lift, even before it went on the floor.

"Bach!" shouted the Chinese-like person as he ran towards him in an alarming way.

"Oh, hey Adrian." Bach greeted in a somewhat unusual mix of stress and gladness. "Did you come here for repentance, mate?"

"Bach, you idiot! Haven't you noticed we have a stowaway on board?"

"Haven't you noticed that there's a very large comet coming our way, not to mention YESHUA disappeared?"

"What!" everyone exclaimed in confusion around three problems in one ship, until Vincent appeared again, only this time in front Zack who was piloting at time, being faced by the mouth of a gun.

"I do not know what on earth you people are having problems with, but I demand an explanation of where does this ship take me to." He said coldly.

"He can't be seriously shooting Zack!" Rufus exclaimed as he stood up and took his beloved shotgun.

"Wait, Rufus." Aerith remarked quickly, as she was finally 'picked-down'. "Maybe there's a way to quell this argument." She bravely walked to the lion's den or in this case, the red cloaked stranger having whether to shoot Zack or not.

"Urm, your name's Vincent Valentine, right?" she bravely, but scarily asked.

"Yes, but in truth, are you the Aeris and Sephiroth I knew?"

" 'The Aeris and Sephiroth you knew'? Excuse me, but I'm actually Aerith with the 's' knock out and this Sephiroth here has got a black wing on his back and both of us came from a different world you never know of."

"Oh." Vincent lowered his gun, making Zack relieved that he didn't need to go to Heaven in such short notice. "So that would make sense of why there were clones of them from where I live."

"Yeah, now that the confusion is over, we have one worry to get to – THAT LARGE COMET COMING TO BREAK MY VATICAN!" calmly, but then panicky shouted Bach as he tried to get attention to everyone about one major problem. Then YESHUA's voice was heard.

"You do not need to worry Captain Bach and Eliza."

"That's YESHUA's voice!" Eliza shouted as she ran to the command central. "Martyr, can you tell where YESHUA's voice came from?"

"Yes, m'am." Replied the Martyr at the further point. "It's coming from the back exterior of the Vatican. Should I turn on the primary cameras, Eliza?"

"Yes!" With the screen turned on, everyone saw YESHUA on the back exterior, while in still sticking from the hyperspace speed. "YESHUA, what are you doing? Come back this instant!"

"I'm afraid I cannot do the action you have asked me to do." Unemotionally replied the robot as he reached his arms out. "If I come back inside, there would be an increasing chance that the Vatican will not survive the impact."

"But still!"

"However, if I proceed with the action of obliterating the large comet with my powers, though there maybe some damage to the Vatican's back exterior, we would have eighty-five percent chance of surviving through hyperspace. Nonetheless, the impact will come into contact in ten seconds." Then he cut off the communications from the camera that made Eliza was very worried.

"YESHUA!"

* * *

_Back exterior of the Vatican_

This was it for YESHUA's moment as he automatically activated his arms to transformed into big beams of light, directly hit the very large oncoming comet.

* * *

_Bridge_

_Please protect us o…_prayed Aerith as she crossed her hands, before the impact made she and everybody else pushed forward. Gratefully Sephiroth had an amazing grip on grabbing her arm and the same for Alda on Rufus, Adrian on Eliza, though not on Bach, who was unfortunately landed on Zack's lap and Vincent landed safely in the middle of where the Martyrs are.

"I need to check on YESHUA!" She exclaimed as she thanked Adrian for grabbing her and looked at the screen. She wasn't shocked at the damage done to the Vatican, but it was YESHUA's damage himself that caused her to draw tears. "No! No! He's been damaged by the impact! Scratches are everywhere! Someone, please stop hyperspace now!"

"Yes, m'am." Replied one of the Martyrs and with the touch of buttons, they soon enter in the black blanket of stars.

"So now, where are we?" Bach asked in annoyance.

"If the computers are working properly, then I'll say we're in the Theophilus Star System." Adrian answered with some attempts to hide the aggression.

"Theophilus Star System?" both Aerith and Sephiroth asked with some curiosity.

"Yep, you're heard Adrian right." Replied Rufus. "The Heart Star System isn't the only one in the Nimbus Galaxy with the word Star on it!"

"So, what is the Theophilus Star System like?" Vincent asked with some confusion about galaxies and the rest.

"Well," Adrian explained, before directly intercepting Bach's unknown knowledge of the Nimbus Galaxy "Theophilus Star System is very much a tourist attraction to the people across some Star Systems and a few Solar Systems. In fact, the best tourist attraction for this is a planet called Akagi, the Planet of the Blood. It's near the Vatican's position right now, so might as well take a rest."

"Uh, why did they call the 'Planet of the Blood'?" Aerith asked with some interest about Theophilus's planets.

"Because the ocean is full of crimson, though it does smell more like perfume than just ordinary ocean from other planets, not to mention most of us, including Bach and me, live in the 'planet's next two neighbours', Second Eden in Theophilus itself."

"Oh, so that's why it is a popular attraction."

"So, I guess there's no option, but to rest at Akagi for a while."

"And when can I repair YESHUA to Yeager HQ in Second Eden until then?" Eliza, now in stress, asked.

"As soon as Vatican is repair and when Bach's want us to go."

"Well, then," called Bach as he stood up "all those in favour of taking a break to Akagi, say 'aye'."

Everybody, except for Vincent who was still new to the Nimbus Galaxy, raised their hands up.

"Okay, then. So it's off to Akagi for a well earn rest, before heading off to Second Eden. In the meantime, Rufus and Eliza can check to see if the objects we've found in Terra matches to trigger Seraphiel's Compass."

* * *

_Author's Notes: Wow, another FF7character has joined Aerith and Sephiroth's group and this time it's Vincent! Yes, yes, he is the only 'pure' FF7 character that retains his personality and I want it to k_ee_p that way._

_Oh, because I am a fan of one underrated certain sci-fi game cough Crimson Sea cough; I made a little homage to that game that no one ever plays. Now, on the subject of the characters' clothes, if any Aeriseph fanartist or Yinza, can do me some drawings on the characters that would be great to visualise the readers better. Basically, apart from Aerith, Sephiroth and Bach (see Author's Notes on Journey Four) Rufus's clothes would be similar to his Advent Children counterpart, but with elements of Cowboy Bebop, Alda would be more of red trench coat plus above knee-ish length pleated tartan skirt and plain white blouse combined; Zack could be similar to chaos's costume from Xenosaga II; Eliza can wear a work uniform that is a bit similar to Shion's uniform from the same game I've mentioned earlier, only without the 'fanservice' and Adrian to have a blue Chinese suit version of Citan's from Xenogears, but with different patterns. As for YESHUA, I'll let your head do the imagination._

_And I would like to thank a regular reader, Black Malva for keeping me up to carry on writing another fanfiction chapter. Now, as for a special treat, since this is Christmas, I'll give a sneak preview paragraph of Journey Six – Lucrecia.

* * *

_

Once that they paid the person at the stand with munny, though with a bit of luck and Aerith's charm, the strange short man pushed the 'two lovers' from the boarding platform to the stream of the crimson river that surrounds the beautiful landscapes that God created and it was a perfect picturesque sky of blue and white puffy clouds. Though there was silence between Aerith and Sephiroth, who sat opposite to each other, she decided that she might as well socialise with him, before it gets too awkward.


	7. Journey Six: Lucrecia

**_Journey Six – Lucrecia_**

_Lukia City Square Akagi._

_Oh great! _Thought Aerith to herself as she wandered across the brick-layered buildings and the square. _I'm lost. And worse, I can't contact them, 'cause Adrian, Vincent, Bach, Zack and Rufus are having a 'stag' party over at some tavern, Eliza and Alda are heading to the nearest library for some references to make more notes on __Seraphiel's Compass, YESHUA's in his 'bed' or something and for once, I can't even find Sephiroth!_

Aerith was hopeless on stepping on a new world she didn't know and although the shops and the surroundings are similar to Traverse Town, everything is but. She tried using a map, but it complicated matters and tried talking to people, but the strolling inhabitants seem to be more interested in buying luxuries than giving her directions.

Then, unexpectedly, some strange folk came to her, looking rather shady.

"Say, missy." One of the shady folk spoke in a rough accent. "Say you're lost in Lukia City, eh?"

"Uh, yes I am, since I'm from another world." She replied suspicion. "What do you want?"

"We're just here to give to you some help into the wonderful city of Lukia! So, where are you heading to?"

"You know Hue Port, right? I want to get on that beautiful gondola and see the sights of the surroundings!"

"Heh, heh. Well then, I'll show you the way."

* * *

_Earlier at the Akagi Space Port_

"_Ugh, the mechanics over at the port say it will take three days to fix the back of the Vatican." Complained Bach as he sat down on the bench, crying like a little girl, as he put his hands on his head._

"_Oh cheer up Bach!" happily exclaimed Rufus as he patted Bach's back "At least Eliza solved and activated Seraphiel's Compass, plus we can celebrate by having a wild time!"_

"_Yeah, but still..."_

"_Would you please stop complaining like a dope and just appreciate you've been given a time off from space journey, Bach?" Adrian asked with a little frustration and tiredness._

"_Speaking of which, where the heck is Sephiroth?" Alda asked as she looked around the space port._

"_Well, I know he's not in the Vatican." Eliza replied as she also looked around the space port._

"_And I know he's with us when we're entered the port." Aerith also replied and crossed her arms, thinking where did that One Winged Angel went._

"_Forget it." Vincent and Zack both said._

"_This isn't the time for searching for him, if you're worried about that." Remarked the red cloaked person._

"_Besides, I think he'll be all right by himself." The spiky bloke confidently said._

"_Okay, here's what we do!" Bach exclaimed as he stood up quickly, though Adrian had a what-the-he's-already-got-over-with-his-loss-so-quickly expression. "Eliza, Alda! Head over to Lukia National Library and see what you can get about more info on Seraphiel's Compass. The rest of us, including our 'new' member Vincent, let's get drunk on the way!"_

"_Wait!" Aerith exclaimed that Bach didn't take notice "What about me? What am I supposed to do?"_

"_I don't know! Tour the City of Lukia and take a ride on the Hue River or something like that!" And then, the crew was gone from the space port and left Aerith all by herself, confused around her new surroundings._

"_Great. This is just great!" she sighed as she bend over, feeling completely hopeless.

* * *

_

_Back alley_

"Urm, isn't the alley a bit too dark?" Aerith asked with some confusion that she wasn't in a sunny street.

"Oh, no." replied slyly from one of the shady folk. "This is a shortcut on the way."

"Yeah, that's it." Replied for another shady stranger with a deep rough accent. "But first, we need to pay for our service."

"Wait, I thought you say you'll be helping me for free on the way."

"Oh I forgot. When I say I'll help you, it's free for taking you for the first thirty seconds."

"So, we'll be taking your purse, miss."

"As if, you dirty cheap liars!" And Aerith punched one of the thugs and ran as fast as she could from them. Not bad for a weakling that had some training with Alda. She could footsteps that would be following her after that incident.

_Where's Sephiroth when you need him in a time like this?(!) _She thought, while running into a labyrinth of dark alleys. Un-fortunately for her, she tripped and landed on the ground face down painfully as well as the thugs that grabbed her cardigan covered arms and her body.

"Argh!" She screamed, while struggling to be free on the ground. "Let me go!"

"Ha ha! Didn't think you'll be escaping, huh bitch?" angered one of the thugs. "Now, let me take your purse and…" Ignored from behind, something hit him very hard and dropped temporarily unconscious, thus freeing Aerith from his clutches and see what the heck's going on.

"Urm, Gary?" nervously asked the other thug. Suddenly a voice was heard from above the buildings.

"Well, aren't you a poor pickpocket? Trying to grab something that doesn't belong to you from a woman? That's pathetic!"

Then he jumped down and stood up in front of the two people and a black feather was dropped.

"O...one…one…" the thug gabbled as he couldn't find the words to describe him.

"Sephiroth!" Aerith exclaimed with relief.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" The One Winged Angel smirked with confidence and eyes cold that would fear enemies.

"ARGH! THAT ONE WINGED ANGEL'S GONNA KILL ME ALIVE!" the thug cried loudly as he ran away. When that was over, Sephiroth kneel down and helped the would-be victim from the ground.

"Are you okay Aerith?" he asked with some gentle expression.

"Uh, yeah." She replied as she was busy taking off the dirt from her skirt. "Uh, thanks. Can you take me outside safe from them?"

"I suppose so, since Bach never mentions there are some shady people in Akagi."

* * *

_Streets of Lukia_

"Why do you want a ride on the crimson river?" Sephiroth asked in curiosity as both he and Aerith were walking down the corridor of shops that sell anything from clothes to ornaments.

"Well, Adrian told us the crimson river has the scent of perfumes and I'm not sure where the Hue Port is." She replied, while still walking and looking at the wonderful shops.

"Hue Port?"

"Uh huh. Some people say that the best port that you can travel to see some beautiful sights is there, though the only problem is, that after many maps and asking people for help, I don't know where it is."

"Then haven't you looked at the signs?"

"I've tried, but I mostly see adverts that sell potions and elixirs, plus a lot of clothes and accessories."

With a sigh, both of the characters are truly lost in a new world that was really far away from Hollow Bastion and Olympus Coliseum. However, there was a glint of hope as Aerith saw this trail of white feathers and a voice in her head. A girl's voice again.

_Follow the white feathers trail and you'll find your destination._

And she did. Sephiroth, on the other hand, was puzzled on Aerith's action, though worried about where some things might lead her into danger, decided to followed her just in case. Feather after feather, she followed them and ran toward them. She didn't care if she bumped into a few people or so, made a few turns and twists, until she reach her destination.

* * *

Hue Port was not any normal sea port; it was a magnificent piece of architecture with its striking Chinese-mixed-with-Vietnamese buildings and towers, surrounded by flowing cherry blossoms and the entrance – it was covered in gold and red with birds along with the floor of brick-layer of red waves. Aerith looked at this wonderful structure with her eyes wide open and legs standing still, furthermore when Sephiroth managed to catch up he looked in astonishment that the woman was right – that Hue Port is beautiful.

"Race you to the port, Sephy!" Aerith shouted as she ran first a few seconds later.

"For the love of…Don't call me 'Sephy'!" He shouted back in disagreement about his nickname. Though he had one trick up his sleeve that would envy her and take back her statement.

Meanwhile, Aerith was 'winning' by miles as she ran near the port, until that is she can see Sephiroth floating fast and eventually got the lead, thanks to his black wing.

"Hey! That's not fair! You're using your wing!" she chuckled while she ran, though rather disillusioned she was losing.

"Well, your legs have a lot more air resistance than my wing!" He chuckled back and for the first time in his entire life, Sephiroth actually smiled to Aerith that she was a good friend to him and she never left her happiness behind with him.

By the time the two have entered the port, they saw those beautiful gondolas that were rowing down. Black on the outside only to be covered in gold scales of the dragon's head and its tails; on the inside, this is anything but! Patterns from the Orient, beautifully silk seats in many colours and Aerith wanted to get on quickly, acting like a child.

"Can we get on those gondolas, please?" She pleaded with her puppy eyes to the One Winged Angel.

"But what about the cost of getting on it? I've never rode on a gondola and neither have you!" Sephiroth exclaimed with some concern that this was his first experience riding on water and stood back a bit, felt a bit scared due to Aerith's sudden child ego appearing.

"Who cares about experiences? And besides, I have plenty of money to spend just for us."

"Save for the currency exchange stuff!"

* * *

Once that they paid the person at the stand with munny, though with a bit of luck and Aerith's charm, the strange short man pushed the 'two lovers' from the boarding platform to the stream of the crimson river that surrounds the beautiful landscapes that God created and it was a perfect picturesque sky of blue and white puffy clouds. Though there was silence between Aerith and Sephiroth, who sat opposite to each other, she decided that she might as well socialise with him, before it gets too awkward.

"Urm…you've got a nice body Sephiroth." She spoke embarrassingly as her face blushed.

"What makes you say that all of a sudden?" He asked in a puzzled look

"Well, since you're cooped up in Olympus Coliseum, I would have imagined you've been exercising so much."

"I don't really do excessive work out for most of my life, like Hercules."

"But I saw you as a very athletic person when defeating some of the opponents, including Sora."

"Him?" He shook his head at that time "I only went soft towards him, because he's just a boy. As for Bach, he was a strange person, but a challenging opponent."

"Oh."

"So, what do you want to talk about, before I'll carry on talking on this subject matter?"

Aerith fiddled with her fingers for a few moments, until she had a question. "Did you have a childhood dream, Sephiroth? A goal, that no matter how difficult it takes, to accomplish?"

"…Yes, but tell me yours first, Aerith."

"Okay, but you may laugh at this. Ever since when I was a child, I've been living in Hollow Bastion for the rest of my early days. Then one night, I looked up at the window and saw many stars; I wondered for many minutes thinking that maybe the stars are sometimes uncharted new worlds that no one has ever reached. I talked to my mother, Ilfana, once about going to the new worlds and she found it ridiculous. I was upset at that time, because no Gummi ship could ever take me there and even Leon said I was useless at piloting one, if I sneak out without permission.

"Suddenly, while I was in the library trying to find maps, I found a book that describes the myths of the creatures, including the One Winged Angel, i.e. you."

"…"

"However, as I read the description of the creatures, I accidentally saw a note that was dropped from the book. I picked it up, unfolded it and much to my astonishment that note was from my father, who I never seen or met since I was a baby."

"What did the note say?"

"I couldn't remember it, but it describes about his research on the Archangel Michael and his artefacts that locked Lost Eden for thousand of years or something. I was a bit confused and didn't know what it was, so I threw it away."

"…"

"To cut a long story short, my real childhood dream is to go to the new worlds and hopefully finding my father there, if he was and still is alive. But that ended in tragedy once, as my mother went missing when the Heartless invaded my home and Leon, Yuffie and I were forced to flee to Traverse Town with Cid. The rest was history, until now. So, what was yours?"

Sephiroth sighed as he reached something personal from his left sleeve. "I was the same as you, except I lived in a world not far from your world and I've never met my father ever since. People always stare at me as a child, because I have a black wing and they were afraid of me. Some called me a monster, others 'an One Winged Angel that always brings bad luck'. I got very upset at that instant, but there was one person very special to me that wasn't frightened of my appearance; that one special person was my mother."

"Your mother?"

"Yes, she was the only one that comforted me from some rather disturbances that kept me living from committing suicide. She cared for me through my childhood, even though she tried to cover the explanation about my wing. However, then an invasion of the Heartless swallowed my home as well as I went unconscious in one minute and in the next, I ended up awake in Olympus Coliseum for the rest of my life; leaving my mother missing.

"Year after year, instead of doing intense training of what that faun told me to do, I always looked up beyond the blue sky, always wishing my mother she would be alive here with me. But it didn't. Suddenly, one night, I had this strange dream."

"What was that strange dream?"

"I was in a field of flowers, where there is always tranquillity. I walked on and followed a path, until I saw a girl, dressed in white. She had long, dark chestnut brown hair and those light brown eyes. She looked at me and said, 'I'm closer to my destiny'."

"Your destiny?"

"I thought that was ridiculous about stuff in past, but she kept appearing in my dreams and I wish she would stop bugging me. When I was about to receive Masamune after many training six years ago, I saw her again. She always smiled at me, which I was disturbed and told me, 'to hold on Masamune for as long as I can hold and she will be awaken soon'. It didn't make sense to me, until now when I saw her as a huge robot.

"In other words, my childhood dream still lives on – once I get enough prize munny from the tournament, my plan was about to build a Gummi ship to travel many worlds, so that I can search for my mother. However, it seems to be backfired in the form of Bach in his huge ship made from different technology and you coming along."

"Yeah, my childhood was also backfired too when you showed up, along with Bach and the others." She chuckled slightly and soon followed the same action by Sephiroth.

"You must be the first person that I can actually see you, as a friend. Unlike you, in the past, many people just ignore talking to me, either because I look scary or they fear me as the One Winged Angel – the bringer of world destruction." He then gave her something special from his sleeves of the robe to her palm.

"What's this?" Aerith asked as she looked at this wonderful medium-sized navy blue locket, with beautiful gold drawings of the sun, the moon, the earth and many lines of constellation names in Latin.

"My compass locket my mother gave to me as a present, before she went missing. If you look closely at front, you should see my mother's name." Aerith did, looking very closely at the compass locket and found the word.

" 'Lu-cre-cia'? Is that it?" She asked and Sephiroth nodded in reply. As she opened the locket, she saw two sides. The right composed of detailed gold decoration of angels, the silver lettings of 'North', 'South', 'East' and 'West' and an arrow-shape needle that is tinted with red on one plane, the other silver. The left is a picture of Sephiroth's supposed mother, yet he inherited her beautiful face and her emerald eyes, except for the round glasses and she was carrying must be the baby Sephiroth. "Your mother, she's so beautiful. No wonder you look like her."

"I want you to keep it as a gift."

"But I can't have it. It has a photo of you as a baby and your mother and I can't take something that's personal to you!"

"I know, but once my mother told me a tale about this compass. She said to me…

"_Should your heart and the heart you are protecting gets separated far away,_

_Pray with all your might and the needle will point to the right direction."

* * *

_

It was minutes, maybe hours to Sephiroth and Aerith, since the 'two lovers' have been on the gondola, talking to each other about their childhood dreams, riding gently on the crimson river that has a scent of perfume with the sights of stunning scenery. Subsequently, she went to sit next him, much to the One Winged Angel's dischargin, clearly that she's a little tired and that she told him his shoulder worked better as a pillow than the silk seat.

In spite of this quiet environment in such short time, a cruel express amusement was heard behind Sephiroth and Aerith's position.

"The One Winged Angel and his lover on a romantic trip. How nice." Maliciously smirked the voice.

"Sephiroth, what are we're going to do?" She asked nervously as she stayed in his side "We can't call anyone for help."

"Maybe we don't," He replied cautiously as he was about to unsheathe Masamune and looked at the crimson river at the same time "I can handle this by myself."

Meanwhile, the voice from the front of the gondola came from a person dressed in a black cape covered by a black mask that enclosed the top half of his pale face; floating without touching the river. The black stranger was waiting for Sephiroth's action, yet there is nothing, but silence.

He chuckled with a smile that could be called evil. "So, you wanted to play a little game, eh? Okay, then I'll give you till the count of…what!" He'd never noticed that from his view of the clear crimson river, a black dash came quickly towards him and suddenly by the time it reaches the surface, it turned into a swirling scarlet twister and hit the dark person giving some considerable damage.

"Oh very good!" sarcastically remarked the black stranger, as he shielded from the tornado with his arms crossed. "So, you are very skilful Sephiroth or should I say, 'One Winged Angel' – The Bringer of Misfortune!" As soon as the twister returned to the surface, he saw that Sephiroth was ready for battle, Masamune in position for the offensive stance and emerald green eyes fixed for the target face-to-face.

"Call me whatever you want." Sephiroth remarked coldly "However, in exchange for your taunts, I want to know your name."

"Funny you should say that." The black stranger chuckled as he revealed his hood and his mask showing the One Winged Angel the complete opposite look of himself – golden long hair and sapphire blue eyes – and the most surprising part, two wings of bones from his back, featherless. "I am Astaroth the Fallen Angel."

"Fallen Angel?"

"Indeed. Whereas the One Winged Angel brings misfortune and world destruction, the Fallen Angel takes the lives of the Angel of the white feathers as well as the raven black and that includes you!"

"Pfft. Are you here to take my life just because I have a wing on my back?"

Astaroth laughed manically to the One Winged Angel about that question.

"Take your life? That's really better! In fact, I'm going to fight you to the death with my friends. Come here Muramasa and Murasame!" He summoned his 'friends' to his hands, or in other words, two identical katanas with their names. Muramasa on his left hand, Murasame on his right and he got into his stance. The one-on-one battle of the One Winged Angel versus the Fallen Angel has begun. "Now, let's see who's the best Angel in swordplay."

* * *

_Gondola_

Aerith couldn't do nothing to watch the mêlée against two Angels on a gondola, she needed some course of action.

_Sephiroth needs some help. He doesn't even what's he up against! I mean, Fallen Angels are a lot worse than One Winged Angels in terms of strength and agility. Wait a minute, I remember before the event that everyone left me alone in the Akagi Space Port; Eliza gave me this, in case of emergency. Oh, what do you call it? Ah, the mobile phone, that's it!_

She reached the pocket from her skirt and got her mobile phone, flip the cover, dial the number and hopefully Eliza will pick that phone up.

_Come on Eliza! Please pick up that phone!

* * *

_

_Lukia National Library, Akagi_

"Two hours in and still not good on finding enough info for Seraphiel's Compass!" Alda complained as she nearly gave up on the huge stack of books Eliza 'selected' and began to crash her head on it.

"Well, we've tried the encyclopaedias, history books, ancient history books, ancient mechanism books, physics journals and archaeologists journals." Eliza said it quickly in a list. "Do you want to start at religious history texts, Alda?"

"No, but do you have a book titled, 'Getting Off Stress from Library for Dummies'?

Abruptly, the two girls heard something familiar, like a polyphonic ring tone.

"Umm, Eliza?" Alda asked with some sarcastic look.

"Yes, Alda?" Eliza replied with a perplexed face.

"Is that your mobile ringtone?"

* * *

_Gondola_

"Umm, hello?" Aerith can her Eliza's voice!

"Eliza, it's me, Aerith!"

"Aerith? Wow! That's the first time someone from the Heart Star System using the technology from our own."

"Eliza, this isn't the time for praising me on gadgets! I'm on a gondola, somewhere in one of the Lukia canals."

"What! Sephiroth's in danger?"

"Yes, please contact the others ASAP, if you can!"

"Okay, will do."

With the mobile phone hung on, Aerith hoped the Eliza and the other crew were here as soon as possible, though she had no choice, but to watch the progress on the two Angels.

However, on the floating battlefield, despite some valiant jumps and evasion performed by the One Winged Angel, Sephiroth couldn't understand why he is losing the battle against Astaroth with such strength and agility…until he lost concentration as the Fallen Angel actually hit him very hard by Muramasa and Murasame's cross slash attack, resulting in the crimson river sharp dive. Luckily, Sephiroth does have one advantage of getting back to surface and landed on the side of the building; lengthening his Masamune.

"Where's Masamune's strength?" He asked evilly as he began to clash the One Winged Angel's blade with his two 'Muras'.

"I wish I would, but I couldn't tell you." He replied as Sephiroth counterattacked with Fire Storm and went on direct contact to the weapon.

CLASH!

"Oh, is it because you're afraid of the Fallen Angel, like me taking every last feather of yours?"

CLASH!

"No, I already shed a few ones, but you are worse than the insane version of myself back in Terra!"

CLASH!

"Really? I'll take that as a compliment!"

CLASH!

"You're welcome, you twisted monster!"

CLASH!

"I have enough of this weapon clashing with you! Why don't I finish this charade once for all?"

With a sinful laugh, Astaroth sheathed Muramasa from his back, chanted a few foreign words and a sky blue aura appeared from his left hand. Sephiroth stopped that this opponent was no ordinary one and went into defensive position.

"So, is this my punishment for bringing misery upon yourself?"

"Hahahaha! Think of it as your early birthday gift! LUCIFER'S FEATHERS!"

And suddenly, his boned wings from his back became apart, curved into many tiny pieces of sharp feather-like objects as well as making direct contact with the One Winged Angel. At first, Sephiroth twirled Masamune like a shield, but after ten or so 'bone feathers' deflected, another hit on his right shoulder, making his katana lost its self-protective twirl shield and in a vulnerable position as they directly strike on him. His limbs, his body, his wing; they were so damaged, the 'bone feathers' hit the One Winged Angel hard and landed on the building not far the gondola, where Aerith was there looked horrified seeing Sephiroth seriously injured. He felt the pain, not just the building received more damage to him, but the injuries themselves were hurting him and coughing up the blood.

Astaroth was coming to him, amusing himself with vile personality and once he sheathed Murasame on his back, grabbed Sephiroth's neck on his left hand.

"So what do you think of my gift, huh One Winged Angel?" He cackled with such cruel delight as he magically used his right hand to 'dive' into the One Winged Angel's chest and grabbed the bones that is connected to his back, though that would make Sephiroth gasping for breath as his emerald green iris and pupils were getting smaller, his eye lids were opened widely and dropped Masamune into the crimson river.

"Oh, you can't speak and wish to die? Very well…"

"STOP IT!" Aerith's voice shouted with courage as Astaroth and Sephiroth, though with a pale face, both looked at the gondola, where the girl was standing, holding to the dragon's head and her was a mixture of anger and tearful.

"What's this? A pathetic young woman defending for you?" The Fallen Angel laughed with such evil in himself.

"IF YOU DON'T LET GO OF SEPHIROTH, I'LL GIVE YOU A SPANKING IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!"

"Hahahahaha! You would save your boyfriend with no weapon from me?"

"He's not my boyfriend! Just a best friend to him, you evil monster!"

"Best friend? That's even better than a boyfriend!"

"Aerith…" Sephiroth gasped as he struggled to speak with her. "…please…get…out of…here. Astaroth…will…kill…you…next…if…you…don't…" and he painfully screamed as Astaroth gave him more.

As for Aerith, however, she didn't move an inch as she shook head and hold the compass locket tightly in her right hand. "You saved me in Olympus Coliseum, then in Terra and in Akagi Sephiroth. It's time that I should repay your debt of saving you instead."

"Aaaawww!" Astaroth mockingly exclaimed with happiness. "What a brave thing to say. Sayonara One Winged Angel – Bringer of Misfortune and World Destruction!"

And then Sephiroth, in his eyes, saw a bright light.

* * *

_Am I going to die? Did I fail to protect Aerith?_

'_No, you are not. You are still protecting her.'_

_Jehovah?_

'_Yes, I am here. Do not give up.'_

_But I've lost the battle against Astaroth._

'_But you have not lost the war against him. Do not lose hope.'_

_Hope…what do I have?_

'_Your mother's will and that girl's courage. You must not lose them, not just Masamune.'_

_Not lose them…? Wait…I remember that promise I gave to Aerith, before that battle with Astaroth…

* * *

_

_Author's Notes: First things first, I'm not actually good at love scenes as well as action stuff, so I'll let your head do your imagination on those. Second, Lukia City was the inspiration that I based this in the mixture of Venice and that conceptual art from the original Crimson Sea. And yes, another mysterious character has entered in and I did not ripped if off from Shadow Hearts II! I mean, would you see Astaroth from I described in this version looked more human than SHII or the Soul Calibur series? And yes, Lucrecia gets mentioned in here, but in a different context, as I want to keep the plot a little secret._

_So, why did I make an Aeriseph fanfiction that is pretty much different from any other Aeriseph ones, like aer-seph-4-ever's huge 'epic' To Love an Ancient and Jenesis-X's 'Irony of Fate' series (please read this first. It's brilliant)? Well, originally this was supposed to set in the FF7 world, but then I found out maybe I should go into the Kingdom Hearts version and dig deeper into the two main characters, as I found it hard to put Aeris (note the different spelling at the end) and the insane version of Sephiroth into the Nimbus Galaxy (you can read in Journeys Four and Five). Unlike those fanfictions, I wanted Aerith and Sephiroth to be best friends for the time being, then at later chapters, developed into a love story. And why put it in the sci-fi genre? I guess I'm a fan of science fiction RPGs, like Xenosaga and Crimson Sea and my head went crazy as I combined an Aeriseph story into the sci-fi genre and voila! Nimbus Exploration, the 'first' sci-fi Aeriseph fanfiction, is created!_

_Well I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter of my first 'sci-fi-action/adventure-love' fanfiction and thanks again to the Aeriseph fans and Black Malva who supported me to carry one doing this. Without you, there will be no Aeriseph fanfiction like any other. Reviews are welcome, but flames and anti-Aeriseph ones will be used for Satan's latest bubble-baths creations._


	8. Journey Seven: Kusanagi

**_Journey Seven – Kusanagi_**

_Somewhere dark_

"I see." Bellima snorted as she crossed arms. "That Astaroth went into Akagi to kill him."

"Patient Bellima." Calmly replied the white stranger. "We would not know whether he successfully got the objective or like he is as the Fallen Angel, kill that One Winged Angel for his feast."

"His feast? More like his dessert after his main course, Master." Ryoujin sarcastically remarked with no interest in Astaroth.

"But Master is right, you know." The crimson stranger happily alleged with a crackle smile. "If Astaroth managed to somehow capture him in his own ways, then it might been easier for us to open the path to Lost Eden!"

* * *

_Before the battle_

"_Before I go and get rid of this bugger, can I make a promise to you Aerith?" Sephiroth calmly asked as he was about to dive into the crimson river._

"_Yes, but why making a promise now?" Aerith puzzlingly replied, not understanding what on Gummi's name he's doing._

"_If I was alive after that, have you dream about walking on the clouds?"_

"_Yes I would, if only I have a pair of wings."_

"_You don't need to. I'll take you to the moonlit sky, where I'll show you can walk on the clouds and we'll dance behind the moon to our hearts' contents. Is that a promise?"_

_She nodded. "Okay, but you'll better not let go of my hand!"

* * *

_

_Lukia Canal, Akagi_

Aerith prayed with all her heart that Sephiroth will keep his promise, as well as surviving from Astaroth's wrath.

As for Astaroth himself, he was enjoying getting the chance to torture poor Sephiroth. He didn't care for that loathsome fool's scream, nor seeing 'his girlfriend' being a pansy to protect.

"…Sayonara One Winged Angel – Bringer of Misfortune and World Destruction!" And he clutched his victim's bone that was connected to Sephiroth's wing. However, something was wrong as the Fallen Angel felt it was burning inside. "WHAT IS THIS SEARING BURN I CAN FEEL?"

Aerith couldn't understand the situation about this, but she felt something warm on her right hand.

_Why's the compass so bright? _She thought as she looked at the wonderful object glowing brightly. _Hang on; is it reacting with Sephiroth's pain and…me? I don't understand this!_

Suddenly, the compass was so intense, she closed her eyes as she hold on tightly to the dragon's head. As for Astaroth, he felt that Sephiroth's body was too hot to handle as the Fallen Angel let go of him rather rapidly, much to his disgust that he didn't killed that One Winged Angel in the process.

"His body, what the hell is he for a One Winged Angel?" Astaroth snarled, but what he found the most shocking was that Sephiroth was standing still, despite being horribly injured, reaching his right hand 'to call' Masamune from the bottom of the crimson river and his left hand, where he 'called' another sword as it was magically appearing. And his eyes…his beautiful emerald green iris were replaced with pure white ones, furthermore that on his left hand when it finished appearing, it looked like Masamune's appearance, only except it looked more golden, the handle was shaped like an angel wing. Astaroth couldn't believe what the One Winged Angel was carrying on his left hand.

"That's…Kusanagi?" He snarled to Sephiroth, though only silent as he got on to his offensive position with that named sword and Masamune. "…The Sword that the Archangel Michael wields? That's im…" Unfortunately, the Fallen Angel nearly lost concentration as the One Winged Angel was right out in front of him, with little time for defence, causing much damage than he did to him.

"Why did you wield a sword that only the Archangel Michael possesses?" Astaroth tried asking him, as he defending himself with Muramasa and Murasame just in the nick of time, but because of Sephiroth's somewhat 'God-like' strength and agility powers thanks to his combined swords of Masamune and Kusanagi, he was struck hard on to the gondola; despite that Aerith was on board closing her eyes not knowing she would be the next victim!

_Sephiroth!_

Out of the blue, this female voice, sounded familiar to his mother, came through his mind, urging him to rescue Aerith from the accident he will be producing and that made his pure white iris turning back normal to his emerald green ones, resulting Sephiroth back to 'conscious'; noticing that he had this strange sword labelled 'Kusanagi', but anyway sheathed that to his right hip of the hamaka 'belt' as well as Masamune and went straight down to the gondola; reaching Aerith on time, before Astaroth 'broke' the magnificent boat into two and sank.

Aerith opened her eyes, believing that the compass's light died down, but what she got instead was Sephiroth, though covered in bruises thanks to Astaroth's 'Lucifer's Feathers' Attack holding on his arms.

"Sephiroth!" That was her only exclamation by surprise. "You're injured!"

"It doesn't matter; I've had worse in battles at Olympus Coliseum." Sephiroth calmly replied. "Besides, are you…?" Then the pain, his wounds that endured from Lucifer's special attack, started to scream from his mouth and after a few moments on the air, to which Aerith was unaware of, fell unconscious with her in his arms…until both individuals were caught safely by a large 'hand' with strings attached literally.

"What on earth…Eliza!" Aerith shouted as she looked at the dark skinned woman with her puppet strings on her fingers on top of the building, grinning that they are safe.

"Whew!" Eliza replied with a sigh of relief. "Alda and I thought you're dead meat with that weird guy, but it's a good thing my hobby as a puppeteer since childhood has paid off!"

"So, where the heck Sephy and I landed on?"

"Why, you're on the hand of Shirahime!" And she was right; they were landed on what was a beautiful Geisha's hand only all of her face, kimono and limbs were covered in pure white, except for her black hair and cherry lips. "Whoa! Sephiroth's really in need of medical attention! What happened?"

"Sephy got into a fight against this weirdo, who calls himself Astaroth and he nearly killed him. Then all of a sudden, he went berserk and attacked him at full speed, before rescuing me from danger. I wonder what happened to him."

Silence was only there for a few moments and appearing from the crimson river with Muramasa and Murasame at the hands ready for a final strike, Astaroth, with a face that could only describe as a madman, came rushing towards Sephiroth's position.

"THIS IS ONLY A WARMUP, ONE WINGED ANGEL!" He cackled loudly. "HOWEVER, THIS TIME YOU'LL BE MY FEAST!"

"Guess again, Fallen Angel!" shouted a familiar voice that only applied to Eliza, Aerith and possibly Sephiroth. In addition to two gunshots were heard; resulting Astaroth blocking the oncoming bullets and forced to make a detour. In a short time Alda landed herself on Shirahime's giant shoulders behind the two main protagonists. "You've just entered my trap with my Crane and Sparrow!" With her double guns, namely from the names she 'christened', in a good fashion, she whipped them from her back and began firing at that guy in a black robe. The Fallen Angel, though guarding himself with his two swords and felt a little pissed, had no choice, but to retreat the battlefield.

"THIS ISN'T OVER YET ONE WINGED ANGEL!"

After the disappearance of Astaroth, the humanoid girl packed her Crane and Sparrow behind her back and turned around to see those 'two lovers'.

"Oh dear." Alda was remorse with the One Winged Angel's critical condition. "We've better to take him to a hospital in Second Eden as soon as possible!" And the other girls nodded.

* * *

"_Ugh, where am I?" Sephiroth asked with a drowsy voice as his eyelids began to open slowly. He was back in a familiar place, where he met Jehovah – a field of roses and in the middle, there she again. Jehovah herself walking towards him._

"_You've been unconscious in Second Eden for about a week." The little girl replied calmly with a smile._

"_Second Eden? I thought I was in Akagi with Aerith." He gradually stood up with a little help from Jehovah's hand and walked together in a never-ending path surrounding the roses._

"_I want to ask you a question and you'd better not make some cryptic answers!"_

_Jehovah giggled softly upon his request. "Okay, then. If you say so."_

"_Why did that other sword appear at my second hand? I think its name is 'Kusanagi'."_

_The little girl stopped walking, followed by him, as her expression of happiness gradually faded. "'Kusanagi'? You don't mean the Archangel Michael's sword?"_

"_What?"_

"_Sephiroth. That Kusanagi you're holding is actually belonged to him, the legendary sword that only he could wield. He used that, along with the Yata Mirror and the Holy Magatama of Yasakani to seal the path to Lost Eden for many eons or so."_

"_But if you say that this sword only wields to him, then why did it appeared at my hand?"_

"_Hmm, I may not be a mystic or a Cetra from Terra, but I do not know about that. However, I have a theory that might be connections between you and the Archangel Michael himself." Suddenly, the individuals can hear some machine noises that was from outside the dream field. "It's time, you should wake up back to reality. Until then, see you soon Sephiroth."_

"_Wait! I still don't understand about Kusanagi and other info!" Unfortunately for Sephiroth, he saw a black blanket covering the field of roses as Jehovah disappeared from nowhere.

* * *

_

_Saint Maria of Eden Hospital, Second Eden_

_Why am I in the dark and how come I can hear some machines? No wait, Jehovah told me I'm in some hospital in Second Eden for a week._

He wanted desperately to open his eyes from the darkness the surrounded everywhere. He did; he opened his eyes slowly and Sephiroth was in a room that brightly coloured in white and silver, with a large window with many futuristic buildings and a sea, next to the buildings. The sky was still in dark and yet, the sun was just about to rise. Then he turned his attention to the bed he was lying on and sleeping for at least a week; unusual for any hospital bed, he was on the most comfortable one with a cover of duvets warming his body and limbs. Then he looked and touched the hospital clothes he wore – white cotton pyjamas, shirt and trousers combined, well at least he didn't get to wear one of those horrible dress. He looked at his arm wondering why did his 'fighting' arm was in need of a bandage.

And at that moment, he sat up gently only slightly to be restricted by the machine's needles and that strange equipment that was stuck up to his nose, though thankfully he pulled it out; he saw Aerith at the end, sleeping like an angel and next to her was a scattered collection of journals and books, detailing on the history of something.

Sephiroth was about to wake the sleeping girl, when rudely interrupted, the door opened automatically and came a man, though dressed like a typical doctor, his face is anything but. Scruffy brown hair, with an unshaven, yet handsome face and wore glasses and the fact he was looking at some records.

"Right, let's see how's our…FOR THE LOVE OF EDEN, THAT BLOKE'S ALIVE!" calmly remarked, but then inexplicitly exclaimed the scruffy doctor, resulted Aerith waking up slowly and looked at him.

"Huh? What's going on, doctor?" She asked in a dozy voice. "Any good news on Sephiroth?"

"Umm, actually he's right behind, sitting up straight."

"Uh, really?" At that instant, she jumped in surprise that Sephiroth was sitting up right in front of her, not understanding what on earth why she and that doctor were looking scared.

"Is there something wrong with me, being unconscious for around a week or is it that I have a black wing on my back?" He asked with a confused and frustrated look.

"Umm, it's neither of those questions." Replied the doctor with some after shocks. "Anyway, we haven't met each other, so I'm Doctor Jack Depp Senior or just call me Doctor Depp."

"Umm, right." Sephiroth could feel a large sweatdrop was appearing behind his head. "So, is there anything wrong with my health, since last week?"

"Well, you've got a lot of scratches all over your body, your right arm's a mess; hence we've bandaged those, in addition your legs got paralysed temporarily for a little while. The wing behind your back is okay, so it require little medical attention. Other than that, you're fine, except you have to remain on a wheelchair for a while and Gods know how long your legs going to be all right – maybe hours, day, months or even years."

"Bugger! Now, how am I supposed to walk now, since you say my legs are now numb?"

"Well, at least you can get on a wheelchair and let Miss Gainsborough help you push on it." Depp laughed nervously.

"Erm, okay. There's one more request I would like to make?"

"Sure, fire away."

"When can I leave this hospital ASAP? I hate it staying here doing nothing!"

* * *

_City of Serapha, Second Eden_

Sephiroth was glad he got his Japanese attire and his knee-length boots back at his possession, though he felt uncomfortable he was stuck on a wheelchair and Aerith, struggling to push the wheelchair thanks to his black wing.

"Uh, Sephiroth, isn't there an easier way to get rid of your wing?" Aerith remarked with some struggle, while pushing the wheelchair in a jerky way.

"What? I like my wing!" Sephiroth snapped as he looked at her.

"Yeah, but if I continue to move, I might accidentally placed you in a hospital again."

"Sigh, fine." And finally for Aerith's sake, he closed his eyes, furthermore as if it was done by magic, his black wing disappeared, ensuing that she was finally relieved that she can see, where on Second Eden she's going.

Serapha – a city with nature surrounding the futuristic buildings and holographic advertisements. Technology is so advanced, it would make Hollow Bastion seem out-of-date. The two individuals, well one on a wheelchair and the other pushing it, were in amazement and walking at the same time, observing many people doing daily lives. Teenage girls out window shopping for the latest fashion and a family going out for lunch. By the time they were going up to another section, via an automatic ramp, they saw a familiar figure running towards them.

"Aerith! Sephiroth!" Eliza exclaimed as she reached them, followed by Adrian, who was on the verge of falling asleep in the city. "So, what do you think of our world, huh?"

"Well, it sure looked more technological advanced than Sephiroth and my worlds back at the Heart Star System." Aerith nervously replied, as if she looked at someone who was obviously overconfident. "So, where are you and Adrian going to anyway?"

"Well, we're about to go on the Yeager Enterprises Research and Development building, from which I work here as a Co-Chief of Project Y, just to check on YESHUA's condition. Don't worry about the disability issue, Sephiroth; our building has all access by lifts. Wanna come with us for a tour and then after that, the whole city?"

"Uh, sure. Just where is your workplace, Eliza?"

"Follow Adrian and me."

"Are we there yet, Eliza?" Adrian groaned as his eyelids were proceeding to 'dreamland'. "You woke me up too early!"

* * *

_Yeager Enterprises Research and Development Department Building, Second Eden_

After a surprising quick trip via an 'auto-pilot bullet tube' train, the 'party' arrived at the entrance to the building that would automatically took them to the second floor. Once out, a group of females, whose uniform is a bit similar to Eliza's only her uniform was red as opposed to blue, came running towards her, as if they wanted her autograph.

"Co-Chief!" They greeted.

"Oh, hello there girls." Eliza happily said, while Aerith and Sephiroth were left confused and Adrian falling asleep, at the same time as standing slant on the wall. "So, what's the situation?"

"Eliza, you'd better see the Chief right away!" exclaimed one of YE's employees "And who are those people, apart from Adrian sleeping like a baby?"

"Oh, them? The woman dressed in tones of red is Aerith Gainsborough and the guy who's on a wheelchair is Sephiroth."

* * *

'_YESHUA's ROOM' – Yeager Enterprises building_

_Godammit! Where the hell is Eliza? _The young man thought to himself as he brushed his shoulder-length dark brown by his pale-skinned hand. Then he heard a door opening and prompted to turn around to see his Co-Chief, her friend Adrian and two other people to whom he never met.

"There you are, Eliza!" He exclaimed as he hugged the Co-Chief. "So, how did YESHUA suffer like this? I thought we've tested this two years and show no sign of major damage, but this!"

"Well, yeah." Eliza explained rather nervously when she met her work-partner. "Andrew, there was a slight problem when we've took off from Terra and this wasn't in a practice field!"

"So, you mean that damage he took was real and we're about to be financially crushed by Bach's dad again? And who are those people you brought? Did you gave them a lift without permission?" Apparently, Andrew was pointing at Aerith and Sephiroth rather rudely.

"Hey, it was Bach's idea to give them a lift!"

"Erm, excuse me." Aerith interrupted the two 'Chiefs' "Andrew is it? I haven't met you before, so sooner than squabbling Eliza, let me introduce myself and him. I'm Aerith Gainsborough and this person on the wheelchair is Sephiroth and we're from the Heart Star System!"

"Yeah that's – HEART STAR SYSTEM!" Andrew snapped in surprise, not noticing the silvered-hair person and his chestnut-browned hair companion.

"Uh, why did you snap all of a sudden, just now?" Sephiroth asked in a state of confusion and then was shaken as the 'Chief' appeared in front of him very quickly and was shaken hands, obviously on the left hand, by the same person.

"Oh wow! I've finally met someone who isn't from our Theophilus Star System! It's a great pleasure meeting you!"

"Uh, yeah. Aerith, help…huh?" Unfortunately for the One Winged Angel, he was very anxious that the gentle woman from Hollow Bastion was also shaken hands by Andrew, after his welcome gesture.

"And you…I've never knew a girl from the Heart Star System can never be so much beautiful. I've heard H.S.S girls can have variations depending on which planet they were from."

"Uh…that's very interesting, but can you stop shaking my hands now, you're scaring me!" shockingly exclaimed Aerith as she couldn't let go of Andrew's hands.

"I forgot to tell you guys, but Andrew's really obsessed with meeting real-live people from other Star or Solar Systems than Theophilus." Eliza explained with some nervous expression.

"I can see why." The silvered-hair replied with the same expression as Eliza.

A few seconds later and Andrew went back to 'normal' after shaking hands with Aerith he turned attention to Eliza when he turned on the projection screen.

"We've finished repairing YESHUA (along with financial debts increase), but then we also adding a new component to him." He explained with some calm around, though the opposite can be said to Eliza.

"What! I've never ordered that!" She exclaimed as she wasn't aware about an upgrade to YESHUA's powers.

"Neither do I, but the director ordered us to either add a component or both of us get the sack."

"Sigh. Fine! Just get on with the information about this 'new component'!"

Andrew, after pressing a few buttons on the holographic keyboard, showed her, along with the unusual observers, a picture of the cyborg, along with the 'new component'.

"This is the new component that was specifically made for him and it's called SAINT wings or Special Air Intel-wing Neutral Translations for the long version."

"Why did the director make these name up?"

"I don't know, why don't you ask him for yourself? Anyway, in other words, SAINT wings are particularly useful for shielding people and absorbing the special attacks from the enemies. Although this wasn't really tested out in the practice, I might as well let you do the testing out, when Bach and his crew over at the Vatican is ready to go."

"Wait, that's impossible! I mean, the shielding system is to my opinion a very complex one and taking that to the battlefield is actually very risky and who knows…"

"I hate to interrupt your conversation," Sephiroth intervened with a bewildered look "but since Aerith and I are new to the technology, what on earth are you talking about?"

"Oh right, sorry!" Eliza apologised as she didn't noticed that the two new people are still from the Heart Star System. "As you can see, YESHUA is actually a prototype combat cyborg with funding from Yeager Enterprises and Bach's dad, who is a CEO. Unfortunately, Yeager Enterprises didn't bother to inform the Theophilus Government as Bach's dad would tell me, they're a bunch of corrupted, coward bunch of snobs that only like to enjoy themselves with luxuries and not really concentrating on politics."

"And I thought the separate communities in the Heart Star System were bad, but this – that's even worse!"

"Yeah. Actually, most of the citizens living in the Theophilus Star System and the private companies, including this one, hate our government so much, we've just not asked them for their funding assistance, and we've even refuse their bribe when the General Elections take place!"

* * *

After a short time on discussing on cyborg development and politic issues, it was a temporarily farewell to Andrew and YESHUA for a while, as the party left the building and went for Eliza's house or as the Second Eden citizens would say, the Kinja Residence –slash – Bookshop that was built some between 17th and 18th century Japan. And once they arrived at the Kinja gates, a tall dark-brown figure, with natural black wispy shoulder length hair that covered partially his face; dressed in a lightly blue patterned Japanese robe, was right in front of Eliza!

"Eliza, welcome back!" He greeted in an eccentric manner as he tightly hugged the Co-Chief. "So, how's your trip to space?"

"Kei…could…please…stop…hugging….tightly…" She gasped as she tried to physically attacked his back with her fists.

"Oh right, sorry." And Kei let go of her and looked at those two strangers that was accompanied her. "So, who are those people, apart from Adrian I know? Are they from Akagi?"

"You idiot, big brother! They're from the Heart Star System!"

"Oh, so why didn't you tell me?" Despite Eliza's grunt that either Kei was just teasing her as a joke or he had some problems with his attention, he walked towards them and politely bowed down out of respect. "I hope my younger sister didn't harm you in any case."

"No, not at all." Aerith replied politely. "If you don't mind, my name is Aerith Gainsborough and this person on the wheelchair is Sephiroth."

"Yeah, I know. You're from the Heart Star System and if you haven't eavesdropping my conversation with Eliza, I'm Kei Kinja, Eliza's older brother and owner of the Kinja Bookshop."

"Bookshop, you mean you sell books?"

"Yep, but only antiques ones, since everybody now is addicted to holo-books! Well, at least I can sell those for big money!"

"KEI!" Eliza shouted in disgust.

"Well, sorry Miss-I-am-a-big-spender! So anyway, what brings you here?"

"Is it okay, if Sephiroth and I can a night, before heading off to space?" Aerith asked with compassion.

"Well, sure you'd better come in, since you're a friend of Eliza." The young man smiled with compassion.

"Can I sleep on your futon, Kei?" Adrian interrupted asking as his head was entering 'sleep mode'.

"Adrian? What happened to you?"

"Let's just say Bach and I were having a bet on who could drink the most. Turns out I won, though with a hangover from hell."

* * *

Many hours in the Kinja Residence and it seem like a nice social place, though Adrian slept most of the time on Kei's futon and as the sunset, he left there to sleep the rest of the hours in his home somewhere in the outskirts of Serapha.

However, as the black of shining stars appeared and everyone else seem to be asleep, Sephiroth, with his black wing fully appearing again, sat at the edge at the platform was near to the sliding door; looking at the azure butterflies fluttering to each other and around the fire-lit lantern.

"Can't sleep, mate?" asked Kei's voice as his body walked and sat down next to the One Winged Angel.

"What are you doing here?" Sephiroth replied rather in a sombre mood.

"You know, I've heard many tales about this black wing of yours and how it brought bad luck, though I don't believe in that stuff."

"So, why aren't you afraid of me, when you should be feared, calling my a monster?"

"You, a monster? I don't think so. To you, I think you're very quiet and yet, you're also very honest about the way you wish you want to keep some of your life a secret."

"…"

"But you know, there are some things I want to ask you so many questions. But I don't want to."

"…"

"Ever since I read this book about six years ago, I've an ancient book about the Archangel Michael and his artefacts that sealed the path to Lost Eden. Though I have sketchy details of where those three are, I know these three are the Holy Sword Kusanagi, the Yata Mirror and the Holy Magatama of Yasakani."

"…Why would he sealed the path with those three weapons?"

"I don't know about that, apart from the fact after he sealed the path, there might be a theory he changed the three special artefacts into different shapes and scatter them for eons. Then there's a myth told by everyone – should anyone attempted to disturb the path, the 'Son of the Archangel Michael' would purify those come close to do it – or something like."

"…"

"You must be tired from all that space-lagged and stuck in a hospital for nearly a week. It's best for me to just leave you alone for some time, right." Kei stood up and was about to open the interior door beforehand, Sephiroth spoke for the very first time, in a gentle voice.

"Uh-huh."

"Oh, and more one thing. Take care of Eliza and that Aerith of yours, when they're in danger. I pray that your health and fortune would be good for the next day, even though you're the One Winged Angel that produces bad luck." And Kei left.

* * *

_Author's Note: Who-hoo! Another Journey being done and this one is actually the most cruel thing I've ever did to poor Sephiroth – Yes, he might be a powerful, strong swordsman, but then again, despite the black wing on his back, he's still human and him being on the wheelchair would be the most obvious point of his humanity. And if anyone ask me why Sephiroth wielded the legendary sword Kusanagi, you'll have to read further Journeys to get your head noggin. As for the Yata Mirror and the Holy Magatama of Yasakani, you'll have to guess where the items are. And Second Eden is probably mainly inspired by Xenosaga's Second Miltia city and Crimson Sea's Allargando or something in Gravre. Finally, Andrew, the new character in this edition and Eliza's partner for creating YESHUA, is probably a combination inspired by Allen Ridgeley and Kevin (i.e. Shion's dead boyfriend), only unlike them, he's not dead, so I didn't want my fanfiction to be that cheesy. For Kei, Eliza's brother, my head was imagining the Kinja family to be a mixture of African (probably Kenyan) and Japanese nationalities, because I think those people don't get enough shine as the main characters and 'heroes' and I like choosing unusual people as them for once._

_Before I go squabble on the Johnny Depp bit, there will be a question on where the Kusanagi went after the big fight against Astaroth. Well, Kusanagi can only appear in the most dire situation when Sephiroth is in real danger and you'll have to read further Journeys about the glowing light from the compass Aerith is holding._

_Also, because I'm a Johnny Depp fan, I made him a 'cameo appearance' as a doctor in an Aeriseph fanfiction, which is an unusual choice to put an actor reference in a video game (laughs like an idiot). Plus read this Journey again and I've made one reference each from Sleepy Hollow (I'm a Tim Burton fan) and Pirates of the Caribbean, so the first reader that reviews and notice the references gets a nice reply from me congratulating the hidden discoveries._

_Right enough said, action scenes; do that in your head and imagine. Thank you very much Aeriseph fans and regular reader, Black Malva for supporting through the whole Journey in the Nimbus Galaxy. Reviews are welcome, but any flames, hate reviews and Anti-Aeriseph ones are going to be used for Willy Wonka's furnace that keeps his wonderful chocolate factory running all year long._

_Happy New Year everyone!_


	9. Journey Eight: Ashura

_**Journey Eight – Ashura**_

_Visual Communicator Room, Vatican_

Screen turns up and she can see Yuffie and Leon, along with a few more moogles somewhere in a room in Hollow Bastion.

"Hi Aerith!" The young kunoichi exclaimed with happiness, though Leon behind her, was mentally slapping his head. "Long time no see!"

"Hi Leon and Yuffie!" The young woman smiled. "It's been a long time, you guys."

"Yeah and those weird guys from whatever the Star or Solar System aren't so bad at all. With you know bringing this what-do-you-call-it telephone or something."

"Yuffie, those 'weird guys' you're referring to are some technicians of some Galaxy network company from the Theophilus Star System and in front of us, where you are talking to Aerith is a Visual Communicator." Leon smirked as he rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah. Sorry Leon, not getting used to this new technology from there."

Aerith laughed, since she missed her friends joking around each other, even though the silent warrior was groaning on Yuffie's yarn. "So, how's it going in the Heart Star System or Hollow Bastion, in your case?"

"Well, there are some Heartless in there and although we've 'knocked out' several, there's much chaos rebuilding inside, though thankfully the moogles from Traverse Town came here for a little assistance."

"And speaking of Traverse Town, how's Cid doing?"

"Cid? Well, he's had help from Donald's nephews in the Accessories shop, though he's allergic to the nephews' feathers and things got a little complicated. Then Pinocchio soon helped him afterwards, but I'm not too sure if he's very comfortable with his wooden co-ordination."

Then Leon pushed Yuffie to the side, much to her complaint. "So, how are you Aerith? Did you and Sephiroth have gotten used to travel space?"

"Of course! We've been to a few amazing planets on some Star and Solar Systems and we've even went into a planet with the people that look like us and 'invited' someone from there. I think it's Vincent Valentine."

"Wow! That's great, but isn't that Sephiroth behind you?"

Aerith looked behind to see the One Winged Angel, though still on his wheelchair and mostly observed the stars through the large window and not taking notice; looked back to the screen "Uh, yes he's here with and I'm taking care of him."

"Hang on! I know he's the most powerful swordsman in all of the Heart Star System, but why his right arm on bandage and further on, why the hell is he on a wheelchair?"

"Uh well, it's a long story and er…"

"It doesn't matter now. Just one more thing, before I logged out."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Where are you going anyway?"

"Apparently, the captain of the Vatican, i.e. Bach or 'The Guy Who Strangled You to Death' told us we're going to the planet Third Saccharine on the Moona Solar System to meet a person called Ashura Zhan, who knows more about Seraphiel's Compass and the Archangel Michael's artefacts than anyone. However…"

"However, what?"

"…You see, this is what Bach told us about him…"

* * *

_Earlier at the meeting room, Vatican_

"_Ashura has some multiple personality disorder and one of his persona egos is pretty much an insane guy that has the strength of a thousand horses." Bach explained to his 'crew' calmly._

"_Then how can you be so calm, when describing this Ashura is scaring a lot of us?" Vincent asked melancholy and calmly as he crossed his arms, even though he barely had information about the situation._

"_Well, you see…Ashura's a very dangerous character when it comes to swordplay, not to mention a rabid sword collector, and he has many tricks up to his sleeves."_

"_Sword collector?" Sephiroth confusingly asked. "You mean he likes to take my Masamune?"_

"_Probably, but he likes a bit of a challenge who wields swords, especially yours."_

_The One Winged Angel smiled when Bach mentioned the person. "Hmm, perhaps I would accept this challenge, since Masamune hasn't has an opponent for a long time, since the tournament in Olympus Coliseum."_

"_Well, er, good luck. Anyway, Adrian?"_

"_Now, what Bach? More ridiculous complaints again?" The 'Chinese' asked as he woke up._

"_No, but just the folks about the planet of Third Saccharine, while I'll check the progress over at the bridge." And Bach left the meeting room._

"_Erm, Third Saccharine's a pretty weird place for civilisation, but it has the richest minerals in the Nimbus Galaxy. Though there's one problem – even though the atmosphere is safe for everyone to breathe, the surface isn't and you would sink one kilometre and die instantly, due to that ninety percent of it are muddy-like water. Therefore, the MAs would be suitable for such, until we arrived at the gates of Ashura's manor."

* * *

_

"…And that's how he said."

"I see. Just let me replay you for a moment. You and Sephiroth pilot the MA Jehovah and you're there? Jeez, I wish I have a MA, so that Yuffie and I could join you in, though Gummi technology wouldn't be useful here."

"Yes, I know."

"Well, gotta go. I'll have to re-fix Hollow Bastion, before the Moogles and Yuffie start slacking each other."

"Okay, talk to you later." And the screen that showed Leon and Yuffie, now gone, turned off.

* * *

_Third Saccharine_

As soon as the Vatican left the atmosphere for a while, the four MAs, Jehovah, Anima, Dominion and Lakia, landed on the surface and began walking to Ashura's manor. The environment had a clear blue sky and it was typical that it barely has land, but a collection of rigs digging for minerals.

* * *

_Lakia Cockpit_

"Let me get this straight," Vincent remarked as he was 'sat' above Eliza's position. "You say YESHUA pilots this MA or whatever this called."

"Yep." Eliza replied as she smiled. "Lakia is also a prototype that we've trying to connect him and this."

"I see."

* * *

_Jehovah Cockpit_

"Sephiroth, are you sure?" Aerith asked with some concern. "Your legs are not fully healed, not to mention you're not able to fight!"

"I'll be fine, Aerith." He remarked with some confidence. "Besides, it's been a long time, since I have opponents worth a challenge."

"But what about your legs?"

"Don't worry. I do have one advantage for being an One Winged Angel."

"And what's that mister 'oh-I-am-so-strong'?"

"I can…" Unfortunately, he didn't finished that sentence as the warning signals and the female computer voice announcing danger was coming near. Then Eliza was on screen looking concern as she was typing ever so fast.

"Guys! Trouble at twelve o'clock!"

* * *

Unexpectedly, a blurred image came straight forward to Jehovah's direction, though luckily 'she' pulled the huge version of Masamune and guarded, to reveal a somewhat maroon humanoid mecha that was holding a large scimitar, whereas the other MAs dodged and pull out their long-range weapons.

"Very impressive Jehovah!" The voice who piloted the maroon mecha exclaimed. "Or should I say, the person piloting it, isn't it Sephiroth!"

"How did you know my name, if I didn't meet you for the first time?" The One Winged Angel asked with anger, via the communicator, as Jehovah apparently pushed this maroon mecha away and got into offensive position.

"I wonder if a newbie from the Heart Star System can handle such machinery made from Lost Eden Technology against my MA Chocolat." And suddenly, the MA Chocolat retreated from battle and was heading east from there. "If you want to meet me in person, then come to my manor and we can settle this in person." Subsequently that maroon mecha left at high speed.

"Damn you, come back you coward!" Suddenly, Jehovah had put Masamune back on its back and went into high speed as it was spread its 'wing'.

"Hey, wait for us!" Bach exclaimed, as Dominion, followed by the other MAs put back their weapons and went into high speed as well.

* * *

"I've never knew Ashura would live in a place like this!" Aerith exclaimed while she looked in awe of this wonderful, yet so dull-coloured large Victorian-esque manor that has many large windows and rooms ever imaged on top of a large, yet flat and high hill; when the party got off from their MAs and in front of the black and gold gates.

"I wonder how he can never get lost in this place." Sephiroth calmly smirked as he clutched his Masamune by his side, though on the wheelchair of course.

"Before we're going inside, let me tell you a warning." Bach nervously explained to everyone.

"What? Does Ashura have many booby traps that need to avoid?"

"Uh, partly yes, but he also put many hidden traps that no one could see, though I'm not sure where he hide those things."

After an awkward silence and the gates creaking open, the crew walked at a leisurely pace as they were heading for the detail doors, automatically creaking unlock towards this Roman-esque hallway with marble stairs that lead to the corridor and two red doors opposite to each other leading to other corridors.

The environment looked to be quiet and lonely, until some shadow appeared behind Aerith's back, while everyone was looking distracted and grabbed her; covering her mouth, disappeared into the darkness. That is, until Vincent pulled his 'Death Penalty' and fired behind the young woman's struggling body that got every member's attention. As for the shadow's counterattack – he turned his hand around, while still grabbing on to Aerith's neck and as if by magic, playing cards appeared and threw everywhere at the members.

Luckily, everyone managed to dodge the cards be spreading, but the One Winged Angel – he decided to jump off from the wheelchair, sliced every card that was oncoming to him and landed on top of the marble rail. And then he looked at the shadow that was grabbing Aerith, running like a wind.

"Aerith!" He shouted as he jumped from the marble rail to the floor and chasing after him. Sephiroth, not caring anymore about his legs' condition not to mention the screamingpain he endured inside his mind,dodged the knights' slash, the hidden needles that shot toward sideways and another hidden shadow attempting to make a clear shot at right; thankfully Vincent came right on time and intercepted with more shots.

"Go and save Aerith, while I'll try to distract this individual." The red cloaked person remarked calmly as he reloaded his gun and shot some more. Sephiroth nodded, while still chasing after the shadow and after a long trip or short, to which he has a black wing behind his back and can glide at speed faster than any human, he arrived at the white and silver double doors locked to each other.

_Is this another trick from Ashura? _He thought to himself as got his blade into position, charging with bright powers. _Once I free Aerith from his trickery, I'll tear him to pieces, if I have to! _With a few chants, he cross slashed his blade into an aura version of itself, destroying the doors and entered into another strange room.

_What the hell is going on?

* * *

_

_Ugh, where am I? Last time I was with Sephiroth and the others was in the manor. _Aerith woke up, after somewhat a 'hangover from hell' moment and quickly realised she wasn't in a room! In fact, she was standing on a clear glass floor and when she stood up; Aerith touched every glass wall surrounding her and turned around to see so many clear buttons with words. _Okay! Don't panic Aerith! This is all in your dream! Just look around and…is that Sephiroth? Why is he out of his wheelchair and…oh, dear mother of Hollow Bastion!_

She looked around the surroundings and saw trees of red and white swirls, artificial green grass and a river of some kind of brown liquid; complete with a waterfall – while it was surrounded by windows showing the bright blue sky. Aerith forgot to realise, until later that the strange-looking glass prison-slash-elevator was actually holding nothing, yet it seems to be floating in the middle of the room!

Meanwhile, Sephiroth was frustrated that shadow disappeared and not noticing Aerith was actually on top of him, until he saw this eccentric person – wearing a purple top hat, covered by a maroon brown trench coat and a black Victorian suit with a white tie – chuckling at him with a sheath load of many swords behind his back. The One Winged Angel was particularly pissed at him, as he got himself and Masamune into an offensive position.

"Welcome to my manor Sephiroth or One Winged Angel should I say?" Slyly chuckled the strange man with an evil smile on his face. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lord Ashura Zhan the thirteenth – A Man with a Thousand Swords and with a few hidden tricks!"

"Call me what you want." Sephiroth hissed to Ashura, as he tipped Masamune sideways horizontally. "I'm only here to rescue Aerith Gainsborough."

"Ah, so is thisyour girlfriend I've 'invited' her is Aerith, eh?"

"Shut up! She's only a friend to me! Both of us have nothing in common to each other!"

"And yet your conscience want to rescue her from my wrath, isn't that so?"

"…"

"I would wish I want to, but I can't do that."

"Meaning, I would have to accept a challenge from you? I've to say 'yes' for this."

"Ah, that's a very good response. I've never had this much fun." Ashura closed his lavender eyes and opened to reveal flaming red ones; as if he changed into something much stranger and dangerous. "Now, then say a little 'hello' to my many friends!" And with that, he sheathed and threw many swords into the ground randomly, some of them at the One Winged Angel's position.

Sephiroth had no idea what on earth Ashura was doing, but one thing for sure – he is such a challenging, but fun opponent to fight, better than Sora or some Heartless. He jumped into the air, dodging many swords and found Aerith on some glass prison on the wall, banging on it; shouting, but muting to him a warning.

However, his attention to her was interrupted when behind his back; Ashura spoke like an insane person, full of rage and madness.

"Hey, did you miss someone?" He laughed evilly as he kicked the One Winged Angel's back to wall, though landed safely and Ashura pulled his first sword – a short-medium thin Chinese sword with green kanji decorated by the blade and went towards him. Swords clinging on and off and the eccentric swordsman pushed Sephiroth's grip to the Masamune off from him to the deep ground.

_Dammit! That Ashura must be the first guy to have let go of Masamune from my hand._

After some evasion from Ashura's thrusts and slashes, the One Winged Angel managed to fly down onto the ground and grabbed another sword – a long nodachi with light lilac lines of swirls with the handle in light lilac – to intercept Ashura's attack, which was on the ground now and rushing to him, and clangs and dances of elegant evasion ensues.

_Okay, so plan A didn't work out as I thought. _Sephiroth thought to himself, while still thrusting and slashing onto Ashura's sword. _Time for plan B – get Ashura off from his swords ASAP and as soon I get Masamune out of the ground, rescue Aerith from that glass prison and get back to the hallway!_

With that, he charged the nodachi and pushed Ashura off, letting go of the Chinese sword, which then he chose another sword – an European double-edge sword – and thrusted the nodachi off from his hand. Though luckily, Sephiroth managed to grab another sword – this time a long one-hand Chinese double-edge, thinsword – and managed to get off the European double edge sword from Ashura's hand.

"So, not only you're such a skill swordsman of the katana, you're also a skill swordsman of the Far Eastern swords!" Ashura chuckled in such cruelty. "But that doesn't mean you're a skilled swordsman of the World swords!" And with such power surging into the strange gentleman, he grabbed another sword – this time a thin rapier decorated with a crimson and gold handle – and forced the One Winged Angel go into a defensive position, but was pushed on the wall and fell onto the ground, where Masamune was stuck to the ground.

* * *

_Dammit! My legs are not working again!_

'_Don't give up Sephiroth! You've still got Kusanagi.'_

_Yeah right! I don't even know how to call it!_

'_Once your legs are fully healed and you're awake, grab Masamune, call out the name, Kusanagi; slam your hand onto the ground; pull it and merged them together.'_

_Merge Kusanagi and Masamune together?

* * *

_

When he got back into conscious of the reality, the One Winged Angel was slightly confused about Jehovah's instruction, but regardless, he stood up quickly, not caring about the legs' aches, grab Masamune from the ground and within seconds of Ashura's rage coming in, he used his left hand to raise it up and then slamming onto the grass, chanting the words 'Kusanagi! Come onto me!" and pulled the legendary sword.

_She says merge them together, right? If I do those and this doesn't work, I'm going back to the Olympus Coliseum and never speak to Jehovah again!_

By the time he merged the two swords together, something was happening as it was turning so bright; that after Ashura grabbed onto a huge double-edge sword, he was striking onto the One Winged Angel's position, but then the table has turned – Sephiroth guarding with his new katana from the gentleman's strike and turned a smile to him.

"Now out of my way, you insane, cold-hearted bastard, before I have to go hard on you!" He exclaimed as he pushed Ashura out of the way. Ashura meanwhile, somersaulted; landed on the ground and grinned maliciously.

"Okay then!"

* * *

"Sephiroth! Sephiroth!" Aerith shouted, while banging on the glass wall. "Oh, where are Bach and the others when you need him?"

"There's no use shouting to him." Coldly said the person next to her, as she was surprised to see this person from nowhere. Though covered in a dark Victorian suit, his face was pale with dark brown eyes and had smartly short brown hair. "This glass elevator Lord Ashura made is completely soundproof, so there's no use talking to him."

"Tell me, who are you and what are you?"

"Where are my manners? I am one of Ashura's apprentices, Mardo Locket and I am responsible for kidnapping you, so that Sephiroth might take the bait."

"Wait, you mean this is just a set-up?"

"Yes, presently your other friends are locked from outside of the room, even if he broke the doors. Lord Ashura likes to challenge a person who wields a sword."

"You mean…?"

"Yes, until Lord Ashura is either defeat him or be defeated by him, he will not rest when he is rage mode. Unless his 'other' personality comes at an inappropriate time and lost concentration."

* * *

Many sword clashes and changes to Ashura, from a huge sword to a Gunblade, Sephiroth finally found the unconventional gentleman's weak spot – he was completely defenceless, if he kept his rage up; so he summoned every charge to his katana that turned into such bright, celestial, holy light and as he slashed upwards on the oncoming Ashura, the bright light took so much impact on Ashura himself, for the first time in his life, he defeated – hit hard on the wall between the two windows and fell onto the ground.

"So, this must be the power of the One Winged Angel." He muttered as he sat up slowly, until he can see the tip of Masamune and in front of him, the One Winged Angel himself. Then suddenly, as he closed his flaming red eyes and it turned into pale blue eyes, showing the fear.

"Aargh! Don't kill me!" He screamed as if he changed his personality and cowered by protecting his body. "I'm only an innocent person! It was him! I didn't do it! Please have mercy on me!"

"What! (?)" Sephiroth exclaimed as he was confused about this person now – an insane individual or just a crazy coward.

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I ONLY HAVE PLENTY OF LIFE LEFT IN ME!"

_Just where is Ashura's real persona? _The One Winged Angel thought. _This is getting more strange being on many planets and meeting eccentric people._

"You won't lay a finger on Lord Ashura!"

Then he looked up at the floating glass prison and saw the person of this cold voice – another young gentleman and Aerith, standing up and clutching on the edge of this hollow glass.

"Just who are you?" He snarled as he got Masamune, after dismantling Kusanagi, which then disappeared, into an offensive position.

"Who am I?" Replied the young gentleman, while clutching onto his own katana and standing quite calmly. "I am his apprentice, Mardo Locket and if you dare to take a first slice, even at the slightest touch; I have no decision, but to kill you in front of your girlfriend."

"For the last time, she is not my girlfriend! She's just a friend and has nothing in common with us."

"Really, then? Then so be it." With his sentence finished, Mardo 'dived', his katana ready to poke the One Winged Angel, until…

"That's enough fighting, Mardo!" shouted Ashura, as he got up from the match and his eyes turning back to his lavender eyes. "This person and his 'friend' are one of Bach's crew."

Mardo, instead of poking the One Winged Angel, he somersaulted and landed on the ground, not far to his position; sheathed the katana.

"Yes, Lord Mardo. What are your orders?"

"Tell Ran to stop fighting and show our guests to here. In the meantime, I should welcome Miss Gainsborough by getting the glass elevator down and Master Sephiroth."

"Yes, Lord Mardo." With that, the young gentleman left the room in a polite manner, leaving the eccentric person, Aerith, when the glass elevator was on the floor, and Sephiroth.

"I apologise if I mean any harm to you." Ashura politely apologised to them.

"Umm, that's okay, even if you used me as bait for Sephiroth!" Aerith was a little pissed off about that statement.

"Apparently, that fight wasn't bad at all." He commented rather calmly. "At least it's better than fighting against that Sora in the Olympus Coliseum."

"Sephiroth!"

"What?"

Ashura just laughed lightly. "This is just like Professor Gast."

Aerith, now taken aback that the eccentric gentleman knew her father. "Wait, how do you know my father?"

"He came from the Heart Star System, just like you two are from and he was a good friend to me, until he left."

"Then why would he come here to your manor?"

"He wanted to research about how Lost Eden became an invisible path that no one seems to have discovered using the artefacts the Archangel Michael used, as well as finding the reason the Heartless came to your Star System. When he came to my manor, as Yeager Enterprises' special guest, he asked if he would like to use one of the empty rooms for research and the library and I said yes to him. He also gave me an instruction to his daughter, i.e. you."

"What is it my father wanted me to do?"

"_Should my daughter Aerith is all grown to be a young woman, just like my wife; just give her the key and hopefully, she will know the truth about the Nimbus Galaxy and its state of turmoil."_

Then, as Professor Gast would have told him, Ashura gave Aerith the key that actually lead to her father's research room.

"Just go to the glass elevator, press the 'Professor Gast's room and open it. I haven't entered there for a long time."

And with that, Ashura left them two alone for some time that Aerith thought.

"My father said about the truth on the Heartless and the Nimbus Galaxy itself – what does it mean?" she asked confusingly as she and her One Winged companion entered into the glass elevator.

"I don't really know," Sephiroth remarked with the same expression as Aerith. "but I would like to know about this turmoil he's talking about."

"Hmm, we'll just go into his room then. Now, which one is my father's room? There must've been one of the thousand buttons that'll take us there."

"You mean this one?" Surprisingly, as Sephiroth pressed the button that would lead them into the room, the glass doors behind them shut quickly and with the boosters well truly ready for blasting off, they were soon gone to the room – a place, where the truth can begin.

* * *

_Author's Note: This will be the last time I am going to post this latest chapter, until after the A2 Level exams ((Insert bad language)!) in the summer, because I want to concentrate more on the subjects to improve, rather than carrying on. Now then, before I babble about random subjects, not good at action scenes and stuff, so do that in your head to imagine and because this is an Aeriseph fanfiction, I'll leave the imagination to you for the events happened to Vincent and now, Ran and Bach and his crew, if you want to know during these procedures. Also, if your head is pretty much confused as is to why Sephiroth felt fine when he got off the now damaged wheelchair, you'll just have to be paitent upon Journey Nine to know the answer._

_Now, while I was watching Advent Children, I came to look on the two silver-haired blokes, Kadaj and Loz. This might have been a trivia, but when I looked closely, I saw that they are left-handed weapon users and when I saw the famous fight of Cloud versus Sephiroth, guess what the One Winged Angel is? That's right, he's also a left-handed Masamune wielder and probably if I'm wrong or not,Aeris (or Aerith) giving a hand to Cloud by her left hand as well while fighting against that Neo Bahamut or whatever, which comes to surprise me that I'm also left-handed for most of the stuff! Huzzah! (Laughs like an idiot) I swear I don't really often see most characters are left-handed, but it's a good job, the director made him a left-handed person._

_As for the Ashura and his manor, yes it does has some connections with Tim Burton's film version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Ashura's appearance looks like the Johnny Depp version of Willy Wonka (drools) the difference is that this character has some ties to the other versions of Ashura and for that, it had no Oompa Loopmas doing the job. Instead of three heads, my version of Ashura has been given three personalities – one being his normal self, the other being the crazy, insane version of Albedo from Xenosaga and the other, the scared version of Ichabod Crane from Sleepy Hollow (Tim Burton's version) – instead of giving him lots of arms holding lots of swords, how about giving him a whole load of them?_

_Now thanks again to the Aeriseph fans and regular reviewer Black Malva for supporting me and without it, I might have abandoned the fanfiction. Keep reviewing and I'll reply to you ASAP. Except for anti-Aeriseph one and flamers, they can all be disintegrated by the Testaments' powers from Xenosaga!_


	10. Journey Nine: Exposure

_**Journey Nine – Exposure**_

_Ashura's Office, Third Saccharine _

"…Hmm, very interesting you've brought some info about Seraphiel's Compass, Bach." Ashura calmly commented, walking around his office at a leisurely pace. "Perhaps I should take a closer look of this and plan it further to Hollow Bastion as a source of research."

"Uh, are you Ashura?" Bach nervously asked. "Going back to the Heart Star System? There's a swarm of Heartless over there!"

"Yes, but Hollow Bastion has more books than I can fill in my home. So, does anyone agree to go there?"

* * *

_Glass Elevator heading for Professor Gast's room_

"Why didn't you tell me that One Winged Angels can heal itself for only one week?" Aerith asked with a hint of sadness that she didn't had an opportunity to take care of Sephiroth and a bit disappointed he'd never actually told her the hidden power.

"If I would tell you that sooner, I might be worried that you'll treat me like a monster." He replied with an anxious feeling that the young woman may reject him as a true friend.

"You, a monster? Certainly not! Despite there's a black wing on your back, I'm still your only friend that's from the same Heart Star System as you. But anyway, can you answer my question?"

"Oh, I forgot about that. Do you know a superstition about a cat with nine lives?"

"Yes."

"Well, I've had that similar to the cat, except when I found that out since only an infant, the feathers on my wing represents how much damage I've been taken and so they tend to separate. If I take minor damage, either only a few feathers or none at all would shred from there. However, take major damage and many would shred, to which I would fall unconscious for a week."

"Ah, I now I see why you were in pain back at Akagi."

"That's correct. Though, they do tend to grow back for a while. However, take too much damage, the feathers will all shred from the wing and I would certainly die. That's the One Winged Angel's curse and blessing."

"…I'm so sorry about that, Sephiroth." Suddenly, the Glass Elevator stopped at the location the two characters were at. Heartbeats thumped at every second to Aerith and somehow Sephiroth as they were the locked door to her father's room. "Well, here goes nothing." She placed the key to the lock and once opened, they were in a shock.

Surprisingly, Professor Gast's room was without a cobweb in sight and still well-preserved, despite the area was in a right mess.

"Great, now how do we expose the truth your father wanted to show you?" The One Winged Angel complained slightly as he assisted Aerith a helping hand, avoiding the books on the floor.

"Umm…try looking harder?" Aerith puzzlingly asked.

After few minutes searching high and low for that data her father recorded, the young woman found a red button on his desk. Her mind told her not to push that, yet her body refused to obey her brain and in a few seconds, she ended up pressing it.

Subsequently, a hologram appeared in front of Aerith and behind Sephiroth a few seconds earlier. Though she was surprised her father was still looked youthful with the same hair colour, neatly, yet disorganized hair and still wearing some clothes that typical pretty boys wear, she knew he recorded this around eighteen years ago. Finally, her holographic father began to speak.

"Aerith, if you had grown up to be a beautiful woman, like your mother, then I'm sorry I couldn't see your face for this time, until now that is, when you see me as younger than now. Back to the message, if you want to know about why the Heartless appeared in your worlds, I have the answers. Apparently, not only that, there seems to be that this situation is also connected with the Lost Eden path, the artefacts – Yata Mirror, the Holy Magatama of Yasanaki and the legendary sword, Kusanagi – that the Archangel Michael used to lock the path to Lost Eden itself and that Lost Eden MA Jehovah, as well as that girl also called Jehovah."

"Jehovah?" Sephiroth confusingly wondered. "Why did she have some connections to the Heartless?"

"I have no idea." Aerith replied with the same expression as him. "But we shall wait and see."

"That Ansem, he is such a fool to meddle with those creatures and disbelieving me for the artefacts. Many research materials were about this discovery I found – a book about this myth, a thousand years ago; people living in the world called Lost Eden made vast technology better than this collection of the worlds called the Heart Star System and other Solar and Star Systems. Unfortunately for most of the people, including Ansem, they never seem to have the interest of astrometry and being curious to find strange new worlds apart from this – though lately, I've seen, well at least the baby version of you, three and a half years ago, seem to be more interested of what I'm doing. Anyway, Lost Eden made the three treasures that people made them safe from sadness, anger; despair. However, this golden age ended in tragedy as darkness enveloped them and forced them to leave, until one day, a saviour, the Archangel Michael appeared out of nowhere and sealed the path with the three treasures.

"Or so they say. Turns out, this is all false. True that Lost Eden is truly lost forever, but I believe that some people living in Lost Eden thousand of years ago were actually playing God and the balance between dark and light. You see, remember the girl Jehovah and the MA I've mentioned? The two are actually the same person, well in theory and the research Lord Ashura kindly gave me access. These people used the young female triplets named Jehovah, Jennifer and Jenova for some experiment that involves sticking their mind and soul, removed from their bodies and sticking into the Lost Eden MAs. One of them carries the Holy Magatama of Yasanaki, though I'm not sure which one has it, but I haven't checked on the Yata Mirror and Kusanagi. However, one of the MAs decided to disobey the masters' orders and caused such havoc to the planet. I think Jenova might be the case for causing the action, though I need more evidence to prove my point."

"Wait, haven't we've heard 'Jenova' from Vincent's planet?"

"Yes, but I want to know why my father mentioned her in the first place."

"And this moves to the Heartless situation. Don't believe what Ansem and his reports have said; these creatures may come from the manifestations of some experimental gas the people from Lost Eden tried to calm some specimen candidates, all humans, but it got worse: when their hearts shut out, leaving them completely vulnerable without emotion, they lost their humanity, turning themselves into the Heartless and with that, spreading their virus to those on the verge on becoming them when fleeing from the planet and it keeps scattering right now. So, Aerith, I want to do a special favour for me: Find a way to unlock the path to Lost Eden, find the evidence through the explanations I've told you about and tell everyone in the Nimbus Galaxy to give the truth they deserve."

With the holographic Gast disappeared, Aerith put her hand on her mouth, feeling not just shock, but betrayed by Ansem's reports. Sephiroth, however, looked concerned on her condition she was in, so he tried to comfort her by putting his arm wrapped gently around her tender body, albeit a little mechanically.

"Are you…okay, Aerith?" he asked with unease. "It seems you're shocked with your father's discovery."

"Yes, but now I want to carry out my father's word to expose this – as well as talking to Jenova over this in person."

"What? Are you mad, talking to this insane woman-monster in Terra personally, not to mention another me is going to kill both of us? Shouldn't we discuss this over to Bach and his crew?"

"No, I think both of us should keep this a secret to them once we've get back to the Vatican. And making sure I don't want them to get involve."

"…"

* * *

_Recreational Area, Vatican_

Awkward enough, neither Aerith nor Sephiroth spoke to each other only after they boarded the ship that was en-route to Hollow Bastion in the Heart Star System. Only they knew the secret Professor Gast has been talking and the rest do not know. However after this eerie moment…

"Right, I've had enough of waiting in here!" She snapped as she slammed her hands onto the table while stood up from the seat. "Sephiroth, you're coming with me!"

"What did you say?" Sephiroth surprisingly asked to her in a rather confusing manner. "Why do you want me to come along with you?"

"You're the only person who can activate the MA Jehovah and protecting me from danger once we've reached Terra."

"Are you mad, Aerith? We're in hyperspeed mode en-route back to our world and even though I've activate Jehovah, there is no way this will survive the impact once getting out from this ship!"

"I know what the risks are, but if I don't find and confront Jenova, as well as finding my father and your mother, then we'll be in limbo not knowing the locations."

"…Are you really sure? Are you willing to risk your life for this?"

"Yes, Sephiroth. I mean it. I'll cross and hope to die for this."

"Sigh, fine. But I'm not responsible if you get hurt."

Within seconds, the two individuals ran from the recreational area to the corridor that led to the docking area, only to be interrupted when Vincent appeared in front of them.

"And just where do you think you're going you two?" He asked coldly.

"Uh, the docking area?" She replied with some nervous tensions

"The docking area? Aren't we still in hyperspeed mode, not to mention haven't you got the captain's permission?"

"Actually, Sephiroth and I have unfinished business to take care and we just don't want you and the others to worry us. It's just that this is personal to us."

"Are you going to tell Bach on our action, Vincent?" The One Winged Angel asked coldly, shielding Aerith with his wing.

"I wish I would tell the others on the situation you're in, but since this is personal matters to you, I will keep this a secret to the others."

"Then I thank you for the co-operation."

"Thanks Vincent. I hope you understand the situation we're in." She remarked calmly and both she and the silver-haired person to continue. Seconds, maybe minutes later, nearing to the docking area, Sephiroth stopped in their tracks, feeling that someone was watching them.

"Sephiroth, are you okay?" Aerith asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"I don't think so, but I felt someone was following us."

"Is it Vincent, again?"

"No, and neither Bach. I think it's another person."

"Maybe it's just your imagination."

"I guess you're right about this."

* * *

_Jehovah Cockpit, Docking Area, Vatican_

Few minutes of entering the docking area and sitting down comfortably in the cockpit later, they are now ready to take off, but with a risk that they'll lose their life in the process, while still in hyperspeed.

"Let's see…monitors, controls, rations and ammunitions checked." Aerith listed while, tapping onto the holographic keyboard. "Now we can take off to Terra."

"Except I can't activate to open this bloody hatch." Sephiroth frustratingly complained, while tapping on the small holographic screen.

"What do you mean, you can't open the hatch?"

"For some reason, that bloody thing is operated by the Vatican and is locked for safety."

"What! Then that means we'll be stuck here until we're too late!"

"You needn't be worried about it, Miss Gainsborough." Answered a young female voice inside the cockpit.

"Huh? What the heck's going on? There's a ghost inside!"

"That's not a ghost Aerith," he remarked "that voice sounded familiar…is that you, Jehovah?"

"Yes, Sephiroth. Not only I can meet you through your dreams, I can also communicate not physically literal, but to you."

_Wait a minute, _she thought as Aerith heard that voice. _I've heard that voice before…she must be that girl who said Sephiroth would protect me from his other self back in Terra!_

"So, do you have any means to open the hatch, not to mention surviving the hyperspeed impact from certain death?"

"Do not worry. I have a defence system that should provided the protection in the duration of the journey."

* * *

_Bridge, Vatican_

All seemed to be quiet in the bridge, well except the addition of Ashura and his bodyguards Mardo and Ran; then all of a sudden, warning signs appeared rapidly. Everyone was caught in surprise, to which an unknown reason this came in the first place.

"Bach!" Rufus shouted with some concern. "You'd better tell us what the hell's going on!"

"All right fine!" Bach remarked rather unusually irately "Martyrs! Got any word on the warning in the first place?"

"Yes, captain." Announced one of the Martyrs as she typed the information in "turns out the Lost Eden MA Jehovah is responsible for releasing the safety hatch from the docking area." Everyone started to murmur over on the unexpected situation.

"Well, we can't stop hyperspeed and turn back again, otherwise this would be a waste of time. And more importantly, going to Hollow Bastion is more importantly than finding the reason why Jehovah came out for no reason. Where's 'it' heading to?"

"…According to the data found in the docking area – Jehovah's heading to Terra at the Amano Solar System."

"BACH!" shouted Eliza as she appeared from the lift along with Vincent "This is bad news!"

"What is it Eliza, before I complain about twenty random stuff?"

"YESHUA disappeared and so do Aerith and Sephiroth!"

"What! Are you sure?"

"Yes. When I came to the room to do some checks on his system, his cryobed opened by surprise. I ran, asking people for his whereabouts and once I arrived at the docking area; the area was locked from the inside and I saw him, going behind Jehovah. I've tried to tell him, but then that MA was released outside the area."

"This is getting worse by the second! Vincent, do you know why Aerith and Sephiroth went to Terra?"

"…No." Vincent replied, still keeping a secret to them.

_Aerith, Sephiroth, YESHUA; please be careful once you arrived at Planet or Terra in other words.

* * *

_

_Jehovah Cockpit_

They have to get to Terra to find the answers, no matter the risk both individuals have to suffer the tumbles and violent shakes, though thankfully the defence system Jehovah activated seemed to save them and once out of the hyperspeed, they saw the beautiful, yet dangerous planet in the Amano Solar System.

"We have now reached our destination." Announced Jehovah's voice.

"Now all we need to do is to find Jenova and confront her." Aerith smiled as she looked at the planet "Jehovah, you're her sister, so finding her shouldn't be a problem."

"…I'm afraid I cannot do this action, Miss Gainsborough."

"Pardon? Why can't you do it?"

"Ever since Jenova cut off the mental and physical communications with me, I am unable to locate her presence. I apologise for this trouble."

"No, Jehovah. I think you did fine on taking us to Terra." Sephiroth calmly replied as his arms controlled to move down to the surface "Besides, I'll take the position to find Jenova here."

Descending faster than an eagle, the MA Jehovah managed to glide elegantly on top of the sea, only suddenly a giant light beam below 'it' was heading to this hideous grey giant once it landed on the ground behind that mountain.

"What the heck did that beam come from!" Aerith exclaimed with such surprise.

"I think from that large cannon in front of us was the answer." Sephiroth replied, while using his arms to turn the mecha around the direction of the cannon.

"This cannon? That's one's humongous! No wonder the platform's supporting this heavy machine!"

"Well, we've no time for this! 'Cause that monster already beaming up on that building!"

And what they saw was right. That monster did blew up the building and massive damage was taken impact as its concrete crumbles and collapsed to the ground.

"Aerith, should I try to attack this or…"

"No, just do what your conscience and heart do."

* * *

_Bridge, Highwind_

"Cid, could you just slow this thing down…I think I'm gonna…" Yuffie nearly barfed herself as her stomach could not take the pain of being floated on air.

"Oh shut your $& mouth Yuffie!" Cid exclaimed while steering the ship. "I can control Highwind very stable!"

"More like stomach-stable than Highwind-stable!"

"Hey!"

"Guys, will you please shut up!" Tifa exclaimed while looking at the window heading for Midgar. "Besides, we need to destroy WEAPON or…what on earth!"

"Tifa why are…oh wow!"

"&$! Just what the hell is that!"

"I believe that's a huge robot with a wing on its back." Red XIII replied rather unusually in a calm mood

"What's going on, guys?" Cloud asked in a rather confused look, coming in from the bridge. "Why are looking…at a huge robot…fighting…WEAPON?"

"Uh, yeah. You've got the same expression as us."

"This is just great. First, Vincent disappeared, next, everything's gone awry since the two Materias, now a huge robot appearing from nowhere fighting against WEAPON? "

* * *

_Jehovah cockpit_

"Argh!" Aerith screamed, clinging on the controls, while in contrast, Sephiroth was struggling with controlling Jehovah's defence to that monster. "This isn't getting better!"

"Well you should have not told me to use my conscience!" He exclaimed as he moved the mecha, via his arms and press a few buttons to activate the little missiles that the 'mecha' wing was formed "If we've keep going into offence and then defence, this mecha's going to have less power!"

"Oh, I wish that there some miracle at work to help us!"

"Do not worry Miss Gainsborough and Master Sephiroth." Announced an emotionless male voice from nowhere. "YESHUA reporting for orders to you. I am behind the back of the Lost Eden MA Jehovah and connecting to its nervous system."

"YESHUA? Wait, what on Hollow Bastion's name are you doing? You can't just hack Jehovah in there!"

"Sephiroth, can you pull out Masamune from the back of Jehovah?"

"Are you planning something on saving our lives? And how should I know you?" The One Winged Angel asked with some concern.

"The plan I am executing will gather some success on defeating this monster, though MA Jehovah would have damage too, but should be at the success rate of ninety-five percent."

* * *

_Bridge, Highwind_

"Oh wow!" Yuffie excitedly shouted, watching the battle of the century "I haven't seen this battle since…uh well, I hope this robot's got materia on that blade!"

"Yuffie, this isn't the time to go on materia hunting." Red XIII remarked.

"I wonder if the robot's going to be okay." Tifa also remarked with some thought. Then her eyes were wide open, giving her sense of amazement!

"Tifa, is something wrong?" Cloud asked.

"Cloud, that robot has an extra white wing on its back! Just look at it!"

* * *

With the extra speed that WEAPON charging on to the 'angel' mecha in seconds, Masamune changed into something extraordinary – a celestial blue cannon-like gun with a 'wing' at the end. When that monster attacked Jehovah, the mecha evaded the attack and with a few seconds to load the cannon's power to maximum, targeted the WEAPON and pulled the trigger, sending a huge wave of white beam to it, leaving massive damage.

However, Jehovah's gun power paid the price as its recoil pushed it back to the platform, leaving a massive scar that can visible by only means of air transportation. The Highwind decided to fly into a part of Midgar's platforms.

With the hatch opened, the young woman, the One Winged Angel and YESHUA getting out of the mecha, they stumbled on to the new environment – a Church interior with decays showing signs of rotten ages and yet on the ground, it was filled with beautiful flowers that Terra created.

"Wow! This is rather beautiful." Aerith happily remarked, while bending down, inspecting the fragile structure.

Meanwhile and after pulling out Masamune from the torso, Sephiroth was left wondering where on Terra the three ended up landing on.

"So, meaning you can't find your sister, we're on our own to find her." He said in a disappointing manner.

"Yes." Quickly replied YESHUA. "Until Jehovah's structure, power and communication have been restored, I'm afraid we have no choice, but to continue on foot."

"Okay, so that part's done and over, now over to another question – why did you follow us? Shouldn't you be Eliza's pet?"

"My sensors tell me that you two are going A.W.O.L. and not telling the captain of the Vatican. Somehow, I was awake and got out of my cryobed, following you to the docking area, where you and Miss Gainsborough boarded Jehovah. With this situation, I activated the camouflage invisible mode and hid behind the back of the MA, before it left."

"I see. So that explains why I felt that presence."

* * *

"Dammit! Cloud, you o'foo!" cried Barret, while riding on the motorcycle, alongside Cloud and his Fernir with Tifa as his passenger. "Why going back to Aeris's place? Are you done over with mourning her?"

"Barret," The spiky blonde replied "that robot ending up crashing to that place. I'm sure of it's in her place."

"I'm hope you're right, Cloud." Tifa sadly remarked, holding on to his back. "I hope Cid, Red and Yuffie made their way to confront Hojo up there."

The two motorcycles sped across the ruins of Midgar's sectors, avoiding any obstacles that are in their way. Finally, on their way inside the church they stopped and once getting off, Cloud, Tifa and Barret were in for a shock. Not only they can see a huge robot in front of them, but three people were there!

"You can't be…" Cloud breathlessly exclaimed looking at the three strangers.

"Aeris?" Tifa had the same expression as the spiky blonde person. "What are you doing here with two Sephiroths?" However, Barret had a different expression to the two others.

"What the hell are you doing to Aeris, Jenova's boy?" He angrily snarled as he positioned his gun arm.

Meanwhile, Aerith, YESHUA and Sephiroth were stunned to see Vincent's friends in front, though they were confused of what they are saying.

"Oh dear, we're in trouble now Sephiroth." She whispered in cold shock.

"I don't know what to do – Aerith watch out!" He whispered, then shouted as he grabbed her and used his black wing as a shield seeing that the oncoming bullets were targeting them. "YESHUA, go and talk to those people and tell them this is all of a mistake. I hold and protect Aerith."

"Affirmative." YESHUA emotionlessly accepted and with one second, he disappeared as quickly as he can; leaving the One Winged Angel holding on the defensive position.

_Dammit! _He thought _These people, except for Aerith and YESHUA, thought I'm the insane version of myself and Aerith's that woman! I have to sort this mess out, before they're going to kill me!

* * *

_

_Author's Note: Sorry, I lied. When I said the A2 exam, I meant I'm going to put on hiatus when I'm going to on Study Leave in May, meaning I am going to put on some chapters, though on a more gap pace than regular pace._

_Right, on to this chapter. Yes, I am making up Jenova's sisters and their plot, but if you are left wondering what happened to Jennifer, you have to read more chapters to find out. And yes, I deliberately put Cloud's bike from Advent Children in there, it's just a great motorcycle to put in a fanfiction. Right over the next few chapters, the three characters are going to stay put in the FFVII world for a while, before Bach and his Vatican finally rescued them. This is going to be interesting on Cloud's reaction when he mistakes Aerith as Aeris and Sephiroth (The KH version) that insane version of himself, not to mention seeing YESHUA as another Sephiroth-clone (laughs like an idiot)._

_I would like to thank Black Malva and my new best mate,_ _Lily Silver__, along with many Aeriseph fans out there in the world. Without you, I'll be stuck in fanfiction writer's block limbo forever. Reviews are welcome, but if you are an Anti-Aeriseph person and some flamers who like to ruin my self-esteem and reputation, bugger-off! Otherwise, I'll use my Katamari to roll you over!_


	11. Journey Ten: Misunderstanding

**_Journey Ten – Misunderstanding_**

Bullets flied and yet, it never entered the interior shield of his black wing, Sephiroth couldn't keep the defensive position he was in, while Aerith covered her head feeling this is all of a mistake. They knew YESHUA could sort the situation out, but that did not help the diplomacy as they heard a lot of punches being thrown in.

"If I keep my defence down, you and I will be killed…" Sephiroth said painfully, couldn't take the strain "…but I can't let you do that. Got and ideas Aerith?"

"I don't know, Sephiroth!" she replied loudly, tackling the wave of bullets' tempo. "I'm not really a tactician, but I've learnt something from Leon way back in Traverse Town."

"Then, you'd better tell me, before my feathers are weak to protect!"

"Well, what I am suggesting is…"

"Barret! Stop this instant!" Cloud exclaimed to Barret. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"Shut up Cloud!" Barret responded even as he still firing the One Winged Angel's shield. "You saw Tifa battling a cyborg teen, while he tried to provoke her…" Unfortunately, he never finished his sentence, when out of nowhere the One Winged Angel disappeared quickly and the next second, pierced an object to his gun arm, severely causing damage to the mechanism.

"Sorry, if my scabbard penetrated your arm." The silver mane person remarked sadly behind Barret.

"Why you…" Barret angrily responded, but then realized something was not right. "Hey! You've apologised!"

"I don't really care if you apologised to Barret, Sephiroth!" Cloud slowly exclaimed as he pulled out his Buster Sword from behind his back. "But I'm taking you on! I'll avenge Aeris's death and put an end to becoming a God! Right here!" And he rushed towards him.

"Wait!" Sephiroth clearly explained, before positioning his Masamune to defence. "I'm not the 'Sephiroth' you know…"

CLANG!

Swords dances like a beautiful piece of theatre and yet Cloud did not understand why this 'Sephiroth' was not his usual self, defending himself all the way. The 'Sephiroth' he knew was always aggressive and tended to call the spiky blonde man 'brother' or 'Strife', but this 'Sephiroth' had no idea who on Planet Jenova is, not mention even Cloud himself. Nevertheless, he thought this must be a bluff.

"Look, I don't know what you're doing, but I am not that Sephiroth you know of!" he defensively shouted, before evaded via the wall.

CLANG!

"Ha ha, very funny Sephiroth! Trying to fake yourself you don't remember me!"

CLANG!

"Look, I'm serious! I don't know who you are, who on Earth Aeris is and why that 'clone' does want to destroy the world!"

CLANG!

"And how the hell should I know about you're not that insane person? Do you have evidence?"

CLANG!

_I could have called Kusanagi for help, _Sephiroth thought, while at the same time defending and evading from the spiky blonde man's slashes. _But that blonde person just really put me into a stance I can't keep this forever.

* * *

_

Meanwhile, behind one of the rotten benches, Aerith could see that she was needed for both of her friends; Sephiroth being defensively engaged with the aggressive blonde swordsman and YESHUA, putting up in a self-protective shield from the brunette's punches and kicks. She felt completely helpless on saving both of them and yet, her heart told her to protect the ones she have as friends and yet somehow, the pocket watch Sephiroth that gave to her that was hidden inside the layer of her shirt began to glow brightly.

_Why's Sephiroth's pocket watch glowing in a time of danger? _She thought, but then quickly dissolved the issue as her friends' danger, seeing the One Winged Angel losing the defence control and the 'teenage' cyborg falling into scrapheap. _All right Aerith, this is now or never! _She sprang out of the bench and with her loudest voice she did, Aerith had done written in her history.

"WILL YOU PLEASE STOP THIS INSTANT!" She shouted with her tears, but that did not stop there; for her pocket watch shine so brightly, strange celestial wispy wires came from behind her back and they quickly tied the blonde swordsman and the brunette fighter to the ground, confused and shocked on this strange discovery. Aerith was confused on what the pocket watch did to them, but that didn't stop running towards Sephiroth, who now was on the verge of seriously injury from the swordsman. "Sephiroth! Your right arm, it's bleeding!"

Sephiroth, on the other hand, didn't care about his right arm, his Masamune defensive arm; despite he can still the pain. "I'm all right Aerith, just worry on YESHUA's condition." Then, he looked to the blonde swordsman, who was tied down to the floor and struggling for freedom. Unexpectedly, the One Winged Angel, after giving Masamune to YESHUA, now descended and right behind him, knelt down and showed to the swordsman his right arm covered in dripping blood.

"Your arm's…still bleeding!" He exclaimed surprisingly "…That's impossible! You're supposed to heal quickly in about two seconds, thanks to Jenova's cells!"

"Now, you see why I am not the 'Sephiroth' you know." He told him very coldly "I am not that insane person who killed Aeris – is it?"

"Yes, that woman you've mentioned of. So, if that woman who accompanied you isn't her."

"That's correct. Her name is similar to Aeris, except with 't-h' replacing the 's'."

Then Aerith stepped over to the blonde person.

"I'm sorry for your loss." She replied softly and sorrowfully. "We couldn't find a way to save her."

"…that's okay. I'm sorry I mistake you and your friends as Aeris and 'him'."

"I'll give you their and my names, if you promise not to hurt them and tell us in exchange."

"…Fine."

With that event happened, the celestial wires that bonded the two warriors released them and once stood up, the blonde swordsman looked to the three individuals.

"Good, then. First of all, my name's not Aeris, it's Aerith Gainsborough and this robot here is YESHUA and that guy is Sephiroth, though you can call him 'Seph' for short to avoid confusion, isn't that right, Seph?"

"…Yes." Sephiroth reluctantly replied when he hated someone calling his name shorter, but Aerith was right to avoid the confusion between the insane version and himself.

"Okay, so I now I know why you're not her. I'm Cloud Strife; the brunette who just nearly beat the robot guy is…"

"I'm Tifa Lockhart!" The brunette shouted, as she 'tidied' herself from the wires.

"…What she said and the guy Seph pierced his gun arm is Barret Wallace."

"Hey foo'!" Barret shouted as he finally pulled the One Winged Angel's scabbard from his gun arm and threw it to him. "You probably need this to sheath your sword!"

"Thank you." Sephiroth responded as he caught his scabbard and sheathed his Masamune. "Can we ask you one question, Cloud?"

"What is it, before I called Cid over on PHS?" replied Cloud.

"Do you have an airship?"

"Yes. And what?"

"Do you have any room to fit a mecha?" To which, the One Winged Angel pointed at the stationary Jehovah.

"Excuser moi?"

* * *

_Meanwhile, back in Hollow Bastion…_

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN AERITH, THAT ROBOT GUY AND SEPHIROTH ARE IN TERRA AND NOT WITH YOU!" Yuffie exclaimed, feeling very angry that Bach could not rescue the three unfortunate victims, until Ashura finished his research on Seraphiel's Compass.

"Look, would you just calm a little, Ninja girl?" The eccentric guitarist replied, attempting to calm her down.

"I have a name you know! It's Yuffie!"

"So basically speaking," Leon coldly explained to refresh his memory, while putting his hand on his forehead "this is your entire fault for letting my friend, the Ex-champion in the Olympus Coliseum and that robot person out into space. YOU DIRTY BASTARD!" All of a sudden, the lone swordsman was not all himself as he shook Bach by the shoulders. Very hard for about ten minutes or so and the guitarist was lost for words. "WHY YOU WERE SUCH AN IDIOT INTO LETTING THEM GO FIRST!"

"Please calm down Mr Leonheart and Miss Kisarangi." Adrian replied when stepping to compose the uneasy situation in the library "I'm sure that once Lord Ashura finished his research, we will move to Terra as soon as we can."

"Well, you'd better do it! Because as soon as you're ready, Yuffie and I are going to Terra with you!"

"WHAT?" Everybody, including Ashura, exclaimed.

"Leon, shouldn't we look after Hollow Bastion and let them search for them?" Yuffie asked to the lone swordsman coldly.

"Yuffie, the Heartless are nearly gone and besides, we have plenty of moogles who are well-trained to defend themselves."

"You're right, but aren't we putting our lives to risk?"

"Look, you'll either be courageous to find our friends or chickens who like to stay around. And besides, we'll need something to explore new."

* * *

_Somewhere dark_

"They're in Terra, Master." Told Ryoujin coldly and emotionlessly. "It seems they want to confront to the rogue MA Jenova."

"I see." Remarked the white stranger, 'Master'. "So it would seem that he and his companions are trying to find her."

"So why shouldn't we gatecrash the party and let them have our way?" sulked Bellima.

"Jenova has a powerful ally that we would find the most trouble to deal with." Cracked Astaroth.

"Ah yes, the Great General Sephiroth. The 'other' One Winged Angel."

"Hmm, Bellima, it would seem that you would like a challenge."

"I gladly accept it, Master. I'll be in Terra as soon as I can."

"And I'll go with you."

* * *

_Platform, Highwind. Several hours later._

The sky looked so pleasantly peaceful, saved for the eye sore of the buildings in Midgar; Aerith and Sephiroth looked to the clouds wondering beyond the blue sky.

"Hmm, do you know what happened to the others, Sephiroth?" she wondered, while looking and feeling a bit down.

"I'm not really physic, so why should you ask?" he responded.

"Nah, it's nothing. Just forget what I said." Then, they've heard footsteps and looked it was just Tifa coming in to join the crowd.

"Hey." She greeted, while standing next to the young woman. "So, what's on your mind Aeris…I mean Aerith?"

"So, what's Aeris is like? Was she similar to me?"

"Personality-wise yes, but she was also half-Cetra."

"Half-Cetra?"

"Yes, though I should have told you earlier before Cetra can hear the Planet's cries and such. Unfortunately, she was the last one, till Sephiroth, sorry Seph, killed her in the spot."

"…I'm so sorry about that."

"Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Do you have Cetra power, like Aeris?"

Aerith shook her head. "I'm afraid, sorry to disappoint you Tifa, not. I was born from a different world and the only special powers I have are my heart and my brain on the knowledge."

"I see. So, you can't talk and hear the Planet? That seems to make sense. However, all seems to change, when I went unconscious and suddenly everything wasn't seemed as I saw."

"…"

"Aeris disappeared and we found her on her grave and what was stranger, the Meteor and Holy Materias disappeared from trace as well."

_That's the two materias we took in order to activate Seraphiel's Compass!_

"How about you, Seph? Were you born in the lab and got injected with Jenova Cells?"

"…I wasn't born in a lab." The One Winged Angel replied, unusually calm for someone who is such a powerful swordsman. "Just like Aerith, I was born from a different world and grew up with my normal mother."

"Was she a bit like Jenova?"

He shook his head. "No. My mother was biologically human and she took care of me very well. Always protecting me from my strange condition – that black wing on my back."

"Ah, I see and why did you and that robot boy come here?"

"We want to confront Jenova for personal reasons. That, I could say no more."

"…hmm. Perhaps I should leave you two alone."

"No, that's okay." Both Aerith and Sephiroth embarrassingly remarked to Tifa. "We always need a little company."

Tifa smiled to them. "Thanks, guys. To be honest, you're both good people."

* * *

Seconds passed, maybe even minutes later and the three had enjoyed this joyful conversation. They talked about YESHUA, their worlds, the culture and maybe even the personal problems they had to contend without help. Only this conversation ended, when Cid's voice was on the klaxon.

"Hey, you three!" He exclaimed with a rough accent. "Get to the meeting room quick! We're near the Northern Crater!"

_The place where Jenova is currently hiding. _Aerith and Sephiroth both thought on her whereabouts.

* * *

_Meeting Room, Highwind_

"Now, you know why I summoned all of you here." Cloud announced, standing up like he was the leader of the group in front of Yuffie, Barret, Tifa, Red XIII, Cid and the three new recruits, Aerith, YESHUA and Sephiroth.

"Can we land this thing ASAP, Cloud?" Yuffie desperately asked as her stomach couldn't take the pressure in the airship.

"As soon as we land the Northern Crater, Yuffie. Anyway, before Hojo was killed by Cid, Red and Yuffie, there was some information from him regarding Jenova and Sephiroth's whereabouts and it turns out it's in the Northern Crater.

"However, I'm not sure how deep the Crater is, since it has full of mako for some time. Well, Seph, do you have any battle strategy there, since you're a powerful person?"

"What did you say?" The One Winged Angel stunned as he stood up from the seat not that far and next to Aerith's. "I may be a powerful swordsman, but that doesn't mean I'm a great tactician."

"Compare Sephiroth to you. He's the opposite of you and yet your skills are similar to his."

"Yes, but you should replace the tactics job to Aerith. She was the only person who has a higher IQ than mine."

"Sigh, fine with that. Aerith, any plans?"

Though the young woman was completely shocked on handling the tactics, nevertheless she stood up and tried to speak confidently.

"Uh, I'm not good at planning major attack, but once we landed on the Northern Crater, we should split into two or three groups. Scouts, offensive and defensive or something like that.

On the scout, Seph, YESHUA and I will use the mecha, Jehovah, to descend and see how deep the Crater is. Once that's done, we can begin to descent and then confront Jenova. However, you have to agree with our condition."

"And what condition is that?"

"Seph and I want to talk to Jenova."

"What! Why?"

"Personal matters. Then you can attack her."

"…we'll leave that to you. And praying that your strategy will work in hopes of healing the Planet's wound. With Shinra and Hojo out the way, we can now focus on Jenova and Sephiroth. You can leave the room." With the strategy done and planned, it was time for some peaceful reflections, until landing at the Northern Crater. The place Jenova is hiding from them and the only source for Aerith and Sephiroth to discover the truth on Lost Eden.

* * *

_Meeting room, Vatican_

"This is an emergency guys!" Bach exclaimed as he slammed his fist onto the oak table. "Aerith, Sephiroth and YESHUA have gone missing in Terra and it's up to us where they headed into."

"Yes we all know all about it, so stop repeating yourself!" Adrian scolded with irritation and the same expression with Zack, Rufus, Alda, Eliza, Vincent and now for the first time, Yuffie and Leon.

"Okay, okay! Well anyway, we need to know where they are and to that, we are going to use the data YESHUA's memory is in. So Eliza, any luck?"

"I think there is, and I imagine the last time his memory last recorded was in the Northern Crater in the planet Terra." The young Afro-Edian engineer responded as she typed some words on the laptop.

"Right, so going to Terra would be easy, but the hard part is finding them and Jehovah somewhere in the Crater. Right then, we'll spilt into two groups, the ones that are going on foot are Adrian, Alda, Eliza and me. Leon and Yuffie are going on the new MA and for the rest – keep communicating with us, so that our signal won't cut off. Okay, dismissed people!" And so, after such a short meeting they left the room, except for Leon and Yuffie, who were not seemed so impressed with the guitarist.

"You gave us such a short meeting and yet you always seemed so calm." Leon cracked to insanity.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault I'm always this way in life. And besides, remember the package my old man's company gave to you as a present."

"Yes, but what's with this MA we've got? It's a mixture of Gummi technology and so-called 'Yeager' engineering all rolled into one!"

"Did you say MA?" Eliza wondered as she came back to them. "Gummi technology and Yeager engineering? That one's never tried in the test field, not to mention it's not even tested for approval!"

"Eliza, your MA was never tested on YESHUA's connection now, is it?"

"…I guess you're right. So, who wants to the pilot of this new MA?"

"I'll do it!" Yuffie exclaimed happily as she immediately raised her hand as high as she can. "Since there are no girls piloting this huge mecha, I'll take the helm!"

"…Guess I have no choice, but to assist Yuffie on the weapon controls." Leon sulked, seeing that he missed the chance of piloting such a huge boy's toy.

"Then it's settled! That I, Yuffie, Kunoichi and pilot of the great MA Kami-Kaze, shall rescue Aerith and her friends and avenge them, should they'd be dead!"

"Why do you name that MA 'Kami-Kaze'? I thought it says 'Wind' on the leg."

"Oh shut up! I'm going to change into 'Kami-Kaze', 'cause it such a cool name to sound for a mecha. 'Wind' just sounds so generic and puts a reputation to us!"

_Oh dear mother of Hollow Bastion, _Leon thought to himself as he mentally slapped his head _here we go again with the Ninja stuff.

* * *

_

_Docking Area, Highwind_

"Hey Aerith!" Shouted Cloud as he ran up towards Sephiroth and Aerith was about to board the cockpit, via the open hatch; along with YESHUA who climbed to the back and connected himself with wires attached.

"Cloud!" She exclaimed. "I didn't expect you here."

"I wanted to give you this." The blonde swordsman handed her a specially detailed quarterstaff that labelled 'Princess Guard' and only the late Aeris knew how to hold a weapon.

"Why are you giving me 'Princess Guard'? Isn't that Aeris's weapon?"

"I wanted my burden to be lifted and hopefully can rest her in peace. I wanted you to keep it as a souvenir."

"Thank you, though I'm not really such a fighter myself." She chuckled a little when she said 'fighter'.

"Well, good luck and may your heart would still be as pure." And he ran off to the others outside the Highwind and into the edge of the Northern Crater.

"What was that all about?" Sephiroth asked to Aerith curiously as he already 'sat' down and placed his sheath next to his side.

"Cloud's just giving me a present as a 'thank you' for letting Aeris to rest." She then, 'sat' down as the hatch closed and the screen turning on automatically. "Is there something wrong with you lately?"

"No, just a little curious, that's all." He lied just a little and shook his head, yet his heart was thumping fast.

_Why do I get the feeling I'm protecting Aerith all of the time? She and I have nothing in common and only just friends, but still, I've feel that she and I have been closer to each for support lately. Could this be 'love' I'm developing? No, that could never happen!

* * *

_

_Somewhere in the sky of Terra_

Bellima's mecha and Astaroth's, a black griffin-shaped mecha with 'mechanized' boneless wings were inspecting the situation that seemed to interest them.

"So that rogue MA Jenova is somewhere in the Northern Crater. How interesting for gatecrashing the party." She snickered via her communication device.

"Don't forget about the Great General's Jenova-enhanced strength." The Fallen Angel sarcastically smirked. "He's a very challenging opponent to deal with."

"Well, at least I'm having some fun, instead of being bored in there."

"Ah, yes I can see that from your point of view."

"So why can't we go down there and have some fun, eh Astaroth?"

"I suppose so, since I wanted to drink the blood of the 'other' One Winged Angel."

And with that, the two mechas descended into the Northern Crater.

* * *

'_Kami-Kaze' Cockpit_

"Are you sure you want to pilot this, Yuffie?" Leon asked as he tried to get used to the hybrid technologies of Gummi and Yeager. "You should have me as controlling this huge mecha!"

"Leon, there aren't many female mecha pilots around here," Yuffie happily explained as she looked to the surroundings of the 'floating' cockpit, despite they're still in the Vatican docking area. "And besides, Cid taught me a lesson or two on controlling Gummi ship and I'll adapt it to Kami-Kaze,"

"Yeah, only to wobble and crash in about five seconds."

"Hey! Don't just doubt about my ninja-slash-mecha skills into it!"

"All right, I've heard enough!" Bach exclaimed as he appeared in a small screen to the two 'newbies'. "Just hold on tight and you'll be space. Once you're there, just get down to the Northern Crater and shoot a beacon, so that the Vatican can descend down. You got it, Yuffie?"

"Yep. Sure do, Captain Guitar!"

"Okay, so let the rescue party begin!" And with him gone as the holographic screen turned off, the female computer announcer started the countdown.

"This is so excited Leon! Our first trip into space and zero gravity!"

"Yuffie aren't you overexcited about…" Unluckily for Leon to finish the sentence while at the same time the announcer said 'zero', the MA 'Kami-Kaze', literally sent the lone swordsman and 'Kunoichi-cum-mecha pilot' backwards, until a few seconds later, they were in space and 'next' to them, Terra. A planet, where Jehovah and YESHUA was last seen.

_Don't worry Aerith, Sephiroth and YESHUA; Leon, the others and I are going to rescue you! _Yuffie thought and used her arms to begin the descent to the planet and the Northern Crater.

* * *

_Author's Notes: In case of the philosophy by C.S. 'Narnia' Lewis, if you wanted me to do some more action descripted paragraphs, I'm sorry to say, but I'll let you do the action scenes in your head. Plus, this fanfiction has now fourteen reviews (good ones, not the flamers or the anti-Aeriseph stuff) and I'll thank you the readers and also special thanks to Frozen Eclipse (my mate over at MSN Messenger), Black Malva, Lily Silver and now my new best Aeriseph fan mate, Tishinnia (if I spelt your Pen Name wrong Tish, I'm sorry!). Without them, I'll just leave this chapter with more suspense and canned the entire fanfiction immediately, with many Aeriseph fans and newcomers feeling they need to make petitions of wanting me to continue the alternative version of Aeriseph._

_Sequel-wise, I'm not planning to do a sequel to Nimbus Exploration, until I finish the entire original first series on how much chapters I've done. Though there will clashes aside in terms of making the latest chapter, like doing some chemistry work for my chemistry teacher and actually just doing a favour for my older sister, so that might take some time to upload the new one._

_Speaking of sequels, I might make another Aeriseph fanfiction, but with Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz making major appearances, after reading 'Sephiroth's Second Chance' or something by mistake is probably my inspiration, only setting the characters in the real world, like say Oxford in England, for instance._

_Reviews are welcome, though no 'I-hate-Aeriseph-fanfictions' and flamers and in the next chapter, the almost-whole cast of this fanfiction are colliding each other for the objective to either save Sephiroth and company, destroy or confront Jenova about her involvement in Lost Eden and the 'other' Sephiroth. Hmm, I wonder how I will turn out writing this one huge task of fitting the narrative in (laughs like an idiot)._


	12. Journey Eleven: Collision

_**Journey Eleven – Collision**_

The party have arrived at the core of the Northern crater interior, after some scouting the Lost Eden MA Jehovah has done searching and must have taken nearly half a day to travel to the 'centre of the Earth'. The on-foot party seemed to have put the entire effort in, though inside the mecha, the two individuals were not.

"I've never been to a place this beautiful and yet, this is where Jenova is currently hiding." Aerith amazed with wonder, while looking at the mako walls.

"And she is the only source we've got to find the truth." Sephiroth reminded her that their personal objective was not forgotten. "How long we've reached our target, YESHUA?"

"I am calculating approximately five hundred metres away, Master Sephiroth." The robot teen replied with a second to hesitate. "However, I am sensing the 'other' Sephiroth is somewhere near too."

"…"

"Okay, guys this is it." Cloud called everyone to a grind halt to where the deep mako lake is. "Once we get in, there is no way to get down and we'll have to escape A.S.A.P, once we're destroyed Jenova and Sephiroth once and for all."

"Got it!" Yuffie happily shouted.

"Right." Red XIII and Barret replied.

"Let's give them hell!" Cid cried.

"Okay." Tifa said simply.

"I'm nervous, but I'm ready." Aerith remarked in confidence.

"…just give me signal, when you're ready cloud." The One Winged Angel said, positioning his arms to the controls.

"Affirmative. Activating offence mode." YESHUA replied unemotionally and without indecision.

"Then, good luck everybody and let's go!"

Without a moment to wait, they dived down to the green mako lake.

* * *

_Several minutes later after the first party._

"Hmm, looks like that MA Jehovah and the others went down there." Astaroth observed, while looking at the tracks. The two covered-strangers were outside their mechas, apparently in invisible mode somewhere there. "Perhaps it would be wise of not letting our MAs down here. Who knows, if the lake is going to damage them or what?"

"Aaw, that's a shame to me!" Bellima sulked a little. "I can't bring my beautiful Sakura down there and introduce the people!"

"Well, it would be impossible to bring my Slyver down there and ruin my controls. So, how are your skills outside the MA?" The green stranger took both of her arms from inside her lime green sleeves and threw them to the nearest rock, causing it to split into tiny pieces.

"Good. Now how about your sword skills, 'Bone Angel'?"

"Sigh. You always love weapons of all kinds." He summoned his favourite swords, Murasame and Muramasa, onto his hands and like a samurai in a movie, the Fallen Angel did a quick cross slash to the nearest rock and a few seconds later, it split into four parts. "Still powerful and accurate as always."

"Now, shall we get going? I don't want to wait here forever."

And so the two strangers dived into the lake again for the party. Disrupting Jenova and Sephiroth's plan, just for the sake of 'Master' – the white stranger.

* * *

_Several minutes later. 'Kami-Kaze' cockpit_

"Whoa!" Yuffie exclaimed, looking at the green shimmering lake. "Is this where Jehovah dived to!"

"I wonder how deep Aerith and Sephiroth have got into anyway." Leon nervously, yet unusually remarked.

"Hey, guys!" Bach exclaimed which he distracted the two people from the Heart Star System, via the projection screen. "Just tell us, if your friends and Eliza's robot are in there!"

"Fine! Leon, you know what to do!"

"Sigh." Despite his bitterness he never got control of 'Kami-Kaze', Leon typed via the holographic keyboard, to which he got used to the alien technology quicker; few seconds later and the sound and the appearance of a holographic screen indicated the result. "Turns out we're in luck. They're inside the green lake, though there around eight and nine more people and I don't know about this, but there is a spot saying 'MA Jenova'."

"MA JENOVA!" Everyone, but Yuffie and Leon, exclaimed in surprise when he mentioned 'MA'.

"That's impossible!" Eliza shouted in fear. "I thought that was just some myth about the 'Lost Eden Rogue MA'."

"So, it assumes Aerith and Sephiroth haven't told us the whole truth and that explains why they were so quiet in the Vatican." Adrian now clearly explained the situation, while getting out his scrolls from his sleeves. "I'm going to sort this mess out and see what the heck is going on!" And he dived into the lake.

"ADRIAN!" Bach shouted as he dived second without hesitation.

"Sheesh!" Alda sighed, whilst getting her Crane and Sparrow out from her belt. "The things you do, boys! Always diving into dangerous situations, without some time to think!" And she dived into the lake.

"Hey, wait for me!" Eliza shouted as, she too lunged herself to the green liquid.

"Sigh." Vincent said with just one word and dived into there.

"Oh God!" Leon anxiously cried. "Yuffie, you're not going to dive with 'Kami-Kaze'!"

"Oh yes I am! I'm going to test this baby out!" The ninja-girl excitedly exclaimed as she controlled her arms, nearer to the green material.

"YUFFIE!"

"Hold on tight, Leon! 'Cause Kami-Kaze's is coming to rescue them!"

* * *

_Jehovah cockpit_

"Something's wrong." Sephiroth sensed this presence, as he used his left hand on the holographic screen to detect anomalies outside the environment.

"Sephiroth, what's wrong?" Aerith asked with concern.

"Jenova's not coming here. She won't come out of the cave." Then, he noticed a red warning sign and there, it says 'WARNING. DANGEROUS ANOMALY DETECTED.' "What the…?"

"Sephiroth, you don't mean…"

"Yes. She brought the 'insane-me' to us, because we've brought Jehovah here."

"Jehovah…"

"Yes, Aerith?" asked the young girl's voice.

"Do you know a way to avoid Jenova's 'boy' and confront her, without letting our armour damaged?"

"I do not know about that, but I think I can recognize his weakness."

"Okay. Cloud."

* * *

"Yes, Aerith?" The blonde swordsman replied, while looking at the mecha's outer appearance.

"Can you distract Sephiroth, while we confront Jenova?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Seph sensed something wrong, so he was doing for detection and turns out she sent out her puppet."

"What!"

"Yes, but there's…" However, she never finished her sentence as a sudden wave of attacks; a black blur came from nowhere and attempted to destroy the Lost Eden MA, though thankfully, with Aerith's quick thinking to pull out the large Masamune and the One Winged Angel's defensive position, the black blur, became the once General himself.

"I know you're in there, impostor!" He snarled, while pushing his Masamune to the mecha. "Just come out of there and…" Unexpectedly, a pin needle pierced his back end of his shoulder.

"Well, well, Astaroth." Sneered a familiar female voice to Aerith, Sephiroth and YESHUA. "Look likes Master and you are right; the once Great General is pretty powerful." And appeared, the two strangers from above.

* * *

_Jehovah cockpit_

"It's Astaroth and that mecha girl! What are they doing here?" Aerith confusingly asked as she looked at the two strangers. Sephiroth, though still following the same suite as her, was concerned.

"They might want to disrupt our plan, but…"

"Hey, One-Winged!" The Fallen Angel shouted to him, while being constantly defending from the 'other' Sephiroth. "Leave this 'other' One Winged Angel to me! You go on ahead and confront Jenova!"

"What? You're saying we should follow your orders? What happened to your 'dark' side and the fact you nearly killed me?"

"There's no time to explain! Just go!"

Did the One Winged Angel have no choice, but to follow Astaroth's order? He couldn't understand why would he say such a thing? Are he and that green stranger just enemies to them? Come to think of it, that green stranger, her voice sounded familiar to her mother.

"Sephiroth! We need to move on!" Aerith exclaimed. "Cloud and the others are distracting the green stranger and we need to be quick!"

"Right." He replied and after he shook his head, saying that the confusion should leave aside in a time of danger.

CLASH!

"Who the hell are you and why did you disrupt my meeting with Strife and that 'clone'?" the 'other' Sephiroth snarled, while thrusting Masamune to Astaroth's defence.

CLASH!

"I'm just a gatecrasher, waiting for someone like you to be the bait." The Fallen Angel smirked as Murasama and Murasame contacted every thrust.

CLASH!

"Then get out of my way!"

CLASH!

"I wish I would, but I have a favour for him and he doesn't like my job unfinished."

CLASH!

"Grr. Just tell me why do you like something in the way?"

CLASH!

"You see, I'm a Fallen Angel who likes to take the lives of many types of Angels, including yours!"

CLASH!

"You'll have to defeat me first, but at the moment, I'm winning!"

CLASH!

"Heh. We'll just see about that."

* * *

However, meanwhile, the rest of the party was still in confusion and yet still fighting against that rude green stranger, with all the 'dancing' evasion and pin throwing. Cloud tried his best to his her, but this was particularly difficult as she was such a seducer to most men and pin throwing skills are more troublesome than Yuffie's.

"Aaaawww, Astaroth got my place of fighting Sephiroth." Bellima hollered, while dodging Tifa's fist and Red XIII's strike.

"Who the hell are you and why are you disrupting OUR fight against Sephiroth?" The brunette exclaimed, whilst attempting to kick the green stranger's face.

"Heh, heh. That's so funny you should ask. Call me the 'Deadly, yet Beautiful Belle Bellima." She evaded and counterattacked with more pins at her.

Yuffie threw her large shuriken to Bellima, but it ended like a boomerang, heading at the kunoichi's direction. Barret even tried shooting at her, but to avail as the green stranger cast 'Protect' around her body.

_Bellima, is it? _Cloud thought as he incarnated a few words to cast 'Fire3' _Tsk! She's a fine lass, if only she would get out of our way! _Then out of the blue, a scroll that appeared from either above or nowhere fired to Bellima's direction and caused some considerable damage. _What the? Now, there's more coming? What on Planet does this have to?_ He looked up at that direction and saw a male Chinese person falling gracefully fast.

"CLOUD!" shouted a familiar voice to the blonde swordsman and once he turned his attention to another, Vincent was there to add another confusion. "DON'T WORRY ABOUT HIM AND THE OTHERS FOLLOWING, WORRY ABOUT YOUR HEALTH!" What followed him is the other party and after that, a swarm of monsters.

* * *

Adrian focused his attention to the green stranger, as he let out a huge wave of scrolls behind his back and fired a kick to her.

WHACK!

"Dammit it, girl!" The Chinese exclaimed with rage in his eyes. "Tell me where Aerith, Sephiroth and YESHUA are, you sick person!"

WHACK!

"If you mentioned the one Astaroth is fighting, he's right over there." She replied happily and sarcastically, while counterattacked his waves with more pins at him, though thankfully he shielded himself with the surrounding scroll.

WHACK!

"Not him, you fool! I meant them and don't you even dare joked about them!"

WHACK!

"Oh, my mistake. They went to see Jenova for a little conversation about Lost Eden."

WHACK!

"What! Are you telling me the truth, woman?"

WHACK!

* * *

"Hmm, I don't know about that, so you have to ask them." Then, she threw a whole load of pin needles surrounding the young Chinese person and the environment they were in, including the fight of Astaroth and Sephiroth.

Jehovah was nearly there. Meeting with her sister that cut off every communications with her and once 'she' reached the destination, the MA stood still, until 'she' saw her. A beautiful, yet so alien sister appearing, reaching out her slippery tentacles and her 'wings' and she was two times taller than 'her'.

_**Hello dear sister**. _Jenova hissed as she confronted the mecha. **_I thought you went away and sealed in the egg._**

_Jenova, I'm not here to talk to you about that incident. _Jehovah 'telepathically' pleaded to her. _I've brought some people who wanted to know your involvement._

_**WHAT! I don't need them! Why do you always follow these pathetic humans in your metal body?**_

_Please listen to them! They want to expose the truth to the whole galaxy! _Afterwards, Jehovah automatically opened 'her' hatch, by the appearance of a young woman, who looked like that Cetra brat to which she 'ordered' her son to kill and behind her, a silver-haired person with a wing on his back. _These are the ones who want to talk to you._

"Sephiroth, I'm scared." Aerith worried, yet using her courage to see this alien.

"Aerith, I'm the same as you." The One Winged was scared too. "However, that doesn't mean you should shut out your courage. You have to use this and your heart to win over the opponent." Unexpectedly afterwards, he saw her hand gripping as hard as she could on to his pale, yet so smooth hand and he blushed a little on his cheeks.

"Thank you, Sephiroth. You've been giving me courage to do that."

"Uh…you're welcome, but be cautious. Should Jenova attempt to harm on us, get back in the cockpit and defend ourselves."

"Right."

Both her and him braced themselves for the deadly appearance of Jenova, as she stepped closer to the two individuals.

_**So, you must be the people who pilot that wretched sister of mine**! _She 'telepathetically' hissed to them. **_Just, tell me why you're here, before I'm sending you and her to the scrap heap!_**

"You see, Jenova. I've found this archive my father's been researching and he mentioned you and the involvement in Lost Eden."

**_LOST EDEN! That wretched place those fools ripped my body off and positioned to that loathsome metal body! I wouldn't even dare talked about it!_**

"But please! There is a government or something that likes to hide the truth from us and I want to expose it with the help of Sephiroth, the One Winged Angel and the others."

_**Sigh, if you insist. But once that finished, I'll make sure you won't come near me again.**_

Suddenly, all seem to be quiet, until Jenova's body surrounded Jehovah and 'her' pilots to a surreal place. A location that has lost of its past – Lost Eden. Buildings of tall and futuristic was covered in nature as well and the scene moved to some time later, where the chaos has begun; in the lab, where the three sisters were used as the mechas. Then, Sephiroth noticed even strange.

"No, it can't be…" He whispered in surprise. "Why is my mother with that person?"

"Sephiroth…!" Aerith sadly remarked, but then looked at his mother. Something even confused them. In a few seconds, they saw a brief glimpse of Sephiroth's mother, with the baby, the One Winged Angel himself, on her arms. Then another person appeared to them, a male at least in his early thirties with pale skin, brown eyes and a girl-ish medium length, dark brown hair and in such poor health, injected the baby with a deep crimson liquid into his soft skin. His only words, before the catastrophe, was this:

"Forgive me my son, but you must not let anyone take that key I'm giving to you. Lucrecia, this is your only chance to flee from this place, get to the secret basement and activate the machine."

"But, wouldn't that leave you and take me and him to the future?"

"Yes, but at least I can save the world and not let anyone dared to put their foot in. Now go! There's no time for it." And he coughed up blood from his mouth.

At that time they were back at the present and both Aerith and Sephiroth were in quite a shock that her father was half-right. Of course Jenova was involved in Lost Eden, but that does not mean he actually told her about that person, Lucrecia and Sephiroth in there.

_**Now that I've give you the proof, it's time to say goodbye forever to dear Jehovah.**_

"Wait a minute!" Aerith shouted to Jenova. "I thought you said you're not going to harm us."

_**True, but only to Jehovah and the ones that are piloting 'her', including you!**_

"Aerith, get back in the cockpit!" Sephiroth exclaimed as he already noticed Jenova's tentacles was targeting on the poor defenceless woman, then pulled her to safety and the hatch closed, before the tentacles hit the torso of the body.

* * *

_Jehovah cockpit_

The impact the tentacles hit on, caused quite a stir to the cockpit, where Aerith and Sephiroth still clutching on to the controls.

"Master Sephiroth, Miss Gainsborough, you must quickly leave the premises." YESHUA's voice called without emotion. "Jenova has grown into rage and there is ninety-nine point nine nine percent that MA Jehovah will be completely defenceless.

"Well, I'm not having Jenova take the chance on taking the advantage of that." Sephiroth was now ready as he positioned his arms onto the controls and Aerith, meanwhile, was ready for Masamune to pull out when given the order. "YESHUA, increase defence on the MA and when I give the signal, get that gun of yours onto Masamune."

"Yes, sir."

"I hope that we'll survive the battle." Aerith nervously, but ready to determine said and her face, not any more fear, but courage is with her.

"No…we must survive the battle and then expose the truth to the others. For the sake of your father…and my mother."

* * *

Seconds before Jenova's tentacles hit to the puny MA, Jehovah quickly evaded the oncoming attack and then counterattacked her with missile feathers at her.

**_You think those feathers would have an affect on me, dear sister? _**Snarled the alien woman as she used her tentacles to protect herself. **_That is truly pathetic… _**Unfortunately for her words alone, she did not noticed on after the missiles, Jehovah already got Masamune from 'her' back, slashed one of the tentacles and she was in a lot of pain as she screamed in pain. **_That hurts! I'll won't forgive you!_**

Every few minutes, Jenova tried to break Jehovah's shield, but for the mecha 'herself', her shield would not last much longer than anticipated.

And soon, after a good few hours on putting on a good fight, the mecha had lost 'her' defence mechanism and even the Masamune Wing Gun was not fully charged.

**_Even your best abilities wouldn't stand a chance against me. _**She laughed evilly as she raised up her remaining tentacle. **_Sayonara, dear sister. _**And let it fall heavily.

* * *

_Jehovah cockpit_

'WARNING. DEFENCE SYSTEM IS AT ZERO PERCENT. PLEASE RETREAT THE AREA.'

All over again this warning has heard and what has worse, is that YESHUA had failed to charge up the gun at maximum capacity.

"I apologise for the error I have produced." He replied.

"YESHUA, you did the best you can." Sephiroth calmly remarked, but with bitterness that Jehovah lost 'her' defence power.

"At least we can end up as being as the martyrs of truth." Aerith tried to smile, but she felt gutted that she couldn't expose the truth. Then, unexpectedly when the two saw the large projection screen surrounded them, a very large shuriken-like weapon appeared from nowhere and sliced Jenova's oncoming tentacle to the ground. "What the…?"

"Phew! I'm glad we're here to save you from death!" exclaimed excitedly that familiar voice.

"Yuffie…?" The screen pops up and Yuffie, along with Leon, appeared to Sephiroth and Aerith.

"Hey, how do you know I was here?"

"Yuffie, Leon! What are you doing here? I thought you were looking after Hollow Bastion!"

"Apparently, we were concerned you two and that robot guy left the Vatican and into deep trouble," Leon sighed at the end. "But then both Yuffie and I got involved."

"Hey Aerith, Sephiroth, check out my new toy!" And both looked in astonishment. This might have been another MA in sight, but its structure is partially made in Gummi technology mixing with Yeager engineering, despite the cool colour combination of green and deep silver to give a more futuristic look. Not only that, but the Gummi MA's body was shaped like a humanoid kunoichi, complete with two strands of aesthetics wires.

"Yuffie, I hate to say what beautiful craftsmanship the company has built," Sephiroth explained with astonishment "but Jenova's still alive."

"What! Oh sh…"

* * *

With Jenova's rage still going up in pain, both of the mechas dodged 'Ice3' and despite Jehovah's defence system, Masamune glowed so brightly and with the joint attacks of 'her' and Kami-Kaze, they went straight onto Jenova's weak spot and instant death to her…

"ARCHANGEL'S BLADE!" Aerith and Sephiroth shouted in unity.

"KAZE DIVE!" Leon and Yuffie shouted in unison as well.

Soon, everything became a blank canvas to everyone, including the fight outside the battle between Jehovah and Kami-Kaze.

* * *

_Author's Note: Phew! What a way to do with so many characters into one chapter. And I shall never do that again, because I mean I'm not really good at multiple characters all dizzying around a single area. BTW, if you are left wondering what happened to the battles between Astaroth and the 'other' Sephiroth and Cloud's party versus Bellima 'versus' Bach's party, do that in your imagination from your head, because I'm concentrating more on the AeriSeph scenes, hence this pairings' focus. And yes, really not good at the action scenes, so with the words from Narnia creator, C.S. Lewis (well, not really his words, but you know what I mean)…_

'_Do that in your imagination, where you can control how long you want the action scenes to be.'_

_Right, on another note on the Advent Children trivia, if you have watched the whole film and the cast credit section, if you look at a closer inspection, you should notice that alongside the voice actor and actresses, you should notice that Aeris's and Sephiroth's name (along with Zack on the top) are in the middle and bottom respectively. What's so interesting about it is that they both appeared last and I'm thinking Square Enix might have silently like them as a couple (laughs like an idiot, but then realises there readers who are confused about this trivia)!_

_Umm, that was completely random from me and any reviews (NO anti-AeriSeph ones and flamers please, those ones are putting me off the self-esteem stuff) are most welcome and big thanks to Lily Silver, Black Malva and Tishannia (finally got your name right) for supporting me throughout the ages.

* * *

_

**_EXTRA! Haikus for the fans!_**

_**Sephiroth**_

The One Winged Angel

So powerful and so great

Too bad he's so soft

_**Aerith**_

Beautiful woman

Too bad she is mistaken

For a Cetra Clone


	13. Joruney Twelve: Reason

_**Journey Twelve – Reason**_

The bright, celestial light died down and Jenova decided she had enough of being beaten by the two mechas. However, before she fell to the floor, she has one last haunting statement to her 'dear little sister' Jehovah and especially the two protagonists Aerith and Sephiroth.

**_One last thing, before I fall… _**She slyly explained to the Lost Eden MA. **_You there, the impostor who liked my 'son'._**

"What is it?" Quickly replied the One Winged Angel via communication.

**_That black wing of yours…I'd be careful, if I were you._**

"What…?"

…**_Beware of the shadow behind the Theophilus Star Government. They want your black…wing for this reason._**

"Why…? My black wing?"

**_That…I could say…no…more. _**And so the beautiful, yet deadly alien fell and disintegrated into dust and silence stood still in there with just MAs, Kami-Kaze and Jehovah.

* * *

_Jehovah cockpit_

In turmoil, Sephiroth could not believe his mother never explained to him why he was in Lost Eden some time ago. Curled up into a foetus position and with a clear few thoughts, he wanted some explanations.

_Mother, why haven't you told me you were with me as a baby in Lost Eden? Why did that man injected me with some kind of liquid? Why does my black wing have to do with this? Come to think of it, who was that person and why does he have to involve with her and me? So many questions left wondering to me._

The same can be said for Aerith. With Jenova's last words, the artefacts, Seraphiel's Compass, the green, red and blue strangers, along with Astaroth and the Archangel Michael himself, she sought after the answers that her father would not finish, even if he was still alive or at worst, dead.

_Dad, did you really wanted me to continue these words onto mine? I said I wanted to find you, as well as exploring new worlds, but why do you want me to find Seraphiel's Compass and the artefacts ?Why do you want me to find the truth about the Archangel Michael? Was he some kind of saviour or just someone else? And who are those people, especially Astaroth? Did you sent them to us, like in the Olympus Coliseum and Akagi, to test Sephiroth's skills? Why? Are you even alive father?_

All seem so much confusion, when it finally died down, they can hear the sorrowful silence and suddenly…

"Aerith! Sephiroth! You'd better get here now!" Bach's voice shouted via the audio link.

"Why? Can't you hear both her and I need to contemplate ourselves?" The One Winged Angel angrily asked.

"This is an emergency! That black dude and green lady had killed the 'other' Sephiroth and have disappeared, leaving that party and us behind."

"What did you say?"

* * *

_Several hours later outside the Northern Crater_

Once the two parties were out of this 'hell-hole' and only Aerith and Sephiroth have gotten out of Jehovah, there have been a tense situation between them and Bach, who looked rather angry; after the rest of Bach's group, along with 'Kami-Kaze' have entered in the Vatican's docking platform.

"Why did you leave the Vatican without telling us you're confronting Jenova?" He asked with anger mixing with concern to the two.

"I couldn't say anything about it and I don't want you and the others to get involved." Aerith replied so calmly and sadly.

"Why not tell Lord Ashura?" Sephiroth soon quickly followed with bitterness. "He has reasons with the connection to the Jenova incident, as well as the Lost Eden incident. However, in exchange for our explanation Aerith and I went A.W.O.L, you have to give us where did that Astaroth and that green lady and how did that clone got killed?"

"What! Damn you; no wonder you're called the 'Bringer of Misfortune' for one good reason. Fine, well…

"After 'Kami-Kaze' went ahead of us, there were already conflicts between somehow that blonde swordsman…"

"You mean Cloud Strife."

"…yes, that's him, with his party against that green stranger and that black cloak dude against the 'other you'. Vincent explained to Cloud on the way we're on the good side, when suddenly, that black dude just killed the 'other' you by thrusting his arm onto his body and ripped off his heart and he just dropped like that. And then suddenly, that green dude just nearly spiked us with her needles and then they disappeared."

"Sheesh, that doesn't make sense there."

"Yeah, and now…"

"Aerith! Sephiroth!" Cloud's voice shouted as he himself came running towards the people. "Are you really leaving the Planet?"

"I'm afraid so, Cloud." Sephiroth remarked sadly. "And this time, Vincent is staying with you."

"I wish that both Sephiroth and I could stay here for a long time, but unfortunately, we've got other commitments to look forward."

"I see. Even though I lost Aeris, I'll still going to lose you as her. And yet, you've given me enough hope that I can go on forward without her. Thanks."

"You're welcome." And so, Aerith smiled for the first time and memories can only be preserved as the sunset was beautifully landscaped the world. However, that does not stop the reason why did both of the individuals went A.W.O.L without telling them.

* * *

_Meeting room, Vatican_

"…And that's about probably it." Aerith finally got her breath back as she sat down.

"Wow! And I thought you were risking your lives!" Yuffie exclaimed as she looked around the meeting room."

"Though there is one thing I am now confused about this," Eliza quickly explained "and that is Sephiroth's origin and his connection to Lost Eden."

"Yeah, come to think of it, did your father thoroughly researched about these, Aerith?" Adrian curiously asked to Aerith.

"I never knew he only concentrated on Lost Eden itself and not Sephiroth himself, as well as the connection to his black wing."

"That's a fact and speaking of which, what are the connections between Astaroth the black one, that green stranger, as well as the others?" Ashura clearly observed and asked logically.

"Don't forget the crimson stranger as well!" Bach exclaimed.

"Well yes, and then there's the Theophilus Star Government. I bet they have some connections on blocking and passing false details to the people in the Star and Solar Systems."

"But Jenova gave me a warning that I couldn't even escape." Sephiroth spoke for the first time. "And that person – does he have some connections with my mother and was I born from the past?"

"I know you have vague memories of your Lost Eden childhood memories there Sephiroth, but what interests is that the Theophilus Government never wanted to capture you."

"So, there is only one thing to sort this mess out." Bach stood up as he declared his next point of action.

"What now, Bach?" Adrian complained "Another one of your ridiculous complaints again?"

"No, not this time, Adrian. It's going down to the head office and confront the President!"

"Oh dear. Here we go again."

* * *

_Many several hours later in Second Eden_

"Cool! I've never been in Second Eden before!" Yuffie exclaimed, like a tourist, as she looked at the wonderful sites of the city.

"Yuffie, I may as excited as you," Leon moaned a little, "but did you dragged Sephiroth, Aerith and me to this place!"

"Leon," Aerith pleaded softly. "Just please be more soft. You and Yuffie haven't been here for the second time. And besides, Bach's crew are heading down to his dad's place, before confronting the government tomorrow. So, let's enjoy the tour of the city for the rest of the day."

"Yes, but…" Finally he submitted as the four 'people from the Heart Star System' were walking around the streets of the metropolis in Second Eden. Finally, they can start acting like they were tourists of this strange new world. That it, until a crimson arrow was striking at Sephiroth as he narrowly dodged it, while picking the small child and telling him to get to a safe place.

"Oh, so the One Winged Angel has come out of his wheelchair and into a speedy recovery." He smirked with confidence as he clicked his fingers, making the citizens, apart from the four to a deep slumber.

"Okay, now what do you want?" Sephiroth hissed, positioning his stance and ready to strike, while protecting Aerith by his side. "Another clash against me? Because I'm in a much better mood for that!"

"Oh, I wish I would like to, but sadly I can't. This time, I'm here to warn you about the Theophilus Star Government."

"Then, what do you wish to tell me?"

"Have you ever heard of the XIII Order? The people who wear similar clothing to Astaroth, but with different coats."

"I have never heard such an organization, but what the hell is this?"

"The XIII Order is an organization, who wanted to control the darkness, as well as light and wanted to unlock the secrets behind Lost Eden for centuries. Plus, they are controlling the Theophilus Star Government, just to hide the facts, people need to know beyond their planets; which might explains that one of the members is the son of the President of Second Eden, who is being manipulated the whole time."

"The President has a…?" Unfortunately, Sephiroth's sentence was not finished, when he sensed danger and grabbed Aerith to avoid any danger, as the boomerang effect of the weapon was behind the four, though the crimson stranger was slightly lucky, as his mask was removed from his face as he dodged it. "Dammit! Show yourselves, you fools!"

"Well, well. Looks like they noticed us, Larxene!" shouted a rough male voice.

"Oh dear, shall we reveal ourselves, Axel and Vexen?" shouted a female voice.

"Might as well do it." Shouted another male, as the three dark persons appeared in front, revealing their faces, of the four and the crimson stranger, now revealed.

"That's the XIII Order?" Yuffie was scared when asking, as she nearly grabbed her small shurikens from her right pockets.

"Yuffie! Leon!" Aerith announced, while trying to hide her panic face and getting her newly acquired weapon, Princess Guard. "Go to Bach's location now! Sephiroth and I will try to distract the three."

"WHAT! But you're not skilled on battling them! Let me handle them, while you and Leon would go and tell Bach!"

"Don't worry. I had some lessons learned from Alda."

"Okay, but don't you dare get a scratch!" And so, the two ran, though with a little drawback.

"Hey! Come back!" shouted Larxene as she and Vexen sprinted towards the two, though they were unexpectedly halted by a rain of swords dropping down on them. "What the…?"

"Ah, yes…some new challengers. I like it!" shouted a familiar voice to Sephiroth, Aerith and for some reason, the crimson stranger, as he rapidly appeared behind Vexen, with his European sword and whacked him to the ground hard. Then, Ashura appeared, with his trademark eyes, turning fiercely red. "Pfft! I've seen better fighters like Sephiroth than him!"

"Ah, Lord Ashura! You've arrived!" The crimson stranger happily exclaimed to the 'multiple-personality-disorder-man'.

"It's been a while, Lawrence." Ashura proudly said as he looked to him. "So, how's the drug that combats leukaemia I've given to you?"

_Lawrence! _Both Aerith and Sephiroth were completely shocked that the crimson stranger is actually Bach's older brother. _I thought he's dead! Hang on…why have we seen him again in the Olympus Coliseum as the crimson stranger?_

"I hate on you two on having a nice reunion," Axel explained, clutching his weapons and targeting Lawrence at the same time. "But, I'm here to finished you off!"

Then, despite Vexen getting a painful damage from the crazy swordsman, he summoned his big shield weapon and strike at the two unaware people, though thankfully, Sephiroth and Aerith knew the danger and sidetracked the attack.

"I hope you successfully know how to attack your first opponent, Aerith." Sephiroth remarked as he unsheathed and slightly lengthen his Masamune to offensive position.

"Don't worry Sephiroth." Aerith smiled as she positioned her quarterstaff, Princess Guard, to her crane stance, thanks to the training from Alda. "I'm a quick learner when it comes to combat skills."

He smirked in reply. "Good, now shall we get it on?"

And then, the unlikely alliance between the One Winged Angel, the brown-haired woman, Lord Ashura and his collection of swords and Lawrence, the crimson stranger against the three XIII Order members has begun on the battle to determine on what on Second Eden the turmoil has got into.

* * *

_Meanwhile, back at the board meeting room, Yeager Enterprises Building_

Yuffie and Leon came bursting out of the meeting room doors, despite there were security guards behind them.

"BACH!" They both shouted, while trying to avoid the security's grasp. "AERITH, SEPHIROTH AND LORD ASHURA ARE IN BIG TROUBLE, NOT TO MENTION THE CRIMSON STRANGER FROM THE OLMYPUS COLISEUM IS WITH THEM!"

"What!" Bach exclaimed, as he stood up from his seat. "Uh, security? Let them go! They're with me!"

The security guards let the two go and left the room without a word. "Okay, okay. Just calm down and explain to everyone on this situation, while telling us, on how the hell you got here in such a short notice."

"Oh fine." Leon finally caught his breath and explained to Bach, Adrian, Alda, Rufus, Zack, YESHUA, Eliza and now, Bach's dad. "We were in the city square doing some sightseeing, when suddenly, that crimson stranger came from nowhere. He warned us of this organization called the XIII Order or something and suddenly, the members of the same group appeared from nowhere and attacked them. Thankfully, while we're running to your place, that psycho woman nearly ambushed us, when Ashura came to the rescue and distracted the others. After a while, we're finally arrived at the entrance to the Yeager Building, via this 'fast monorail'…"

* * *

_A while earlier, reception area, Yeager Building_

_The two came running towards the desk, feeling a lot worried from the event and impatient._

"_Excuse miss, but where's Bach and the others?" Yuffie quickly asked as her patience with time was not on her side. "This is really an emergency!"_

"_He's in the meeting room with the others, but I'm afraid he's too busy to take your answer." The receptionist boringly replied, while playing solitaire on her holographic computer."_

"_But THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!"_

"_Sorry, but the answer's no."_

"_Oh sod off!" Leon angered, not feeling his old-self, as he decided to ignore the receptionist's reply. "I'm going straight off to the meeting room!" And he left in a walking-cum-running pace leaving Yuffie behind._

"_Hey, wait for me, Leon!" And so did the young kunoichi._

"_Hey! You can't just barge in a middle of a meeting." She shouted, though both of them ignored her plea. "Ugh, guards, get them!"_

"_Eeep!" Their voices shouted.

* * *

_

"You don't have to tell us the whole explanation, Miss Yuffie." Adrian complained to Yuffie on how did the security guards nearly took them away.

"Whoops!" she exclaimed. "Guess I spilt that out."

"Well anyway," Bach explained "Now that we know that they're in danger, we might as well help them and deal with this XIII Order."

"But first," Bach's dad, Yeager Senior interrupted as he stood up "We need to deal with some financial business with the mergers."

* * *

_Author's Notes: Sorry for the short chapter guys. Writer's block has now entered in my brain. Agh! I've been concentrating too much on playing Shadow of the Colossus, I nearly forgot the fanfiction I've been making as well as planning another fanfiction after that (i.e. Dark English Roses)! And yes, Aerith and Sephiroth have now left the FFVII world, leaving Vincent back to where he belongs. And yes, now you know the truth about Lawrence, you will have find out soon on why he knew Ashura and his reason he's still alive in the next journey._

_As to why the XIII Order members arrived in Second Eden for apparent reason, you would have to read further journeys to reveal their motives on getting their hands on Lost Eden. Now, you can bring in the theories in, as I don't want to spoil this for you and like the ICO genius, Fumito Ueda-san, I'll leave the imagination to you on the Nimbus Galaxy. I love different theories bringing in my fanfiction. Oh, and for the person asking me on Aerith's definition, she IS just a normal human with no Cetra powers and magic – just pure combat skills, though with some or little damage to an opponent._

_Well, reviews are welcome, though NO flamers and anti-AeriSeph ones or I'll never going to release another chapter of Nimbus Exploration again. And in the next journey, there will be not one or two, but THREE clashes between the unlikely alliance, Sephiroth, Aerith, Ashura and the crimson stranger, Lawrence and the XIII Order members, Axel, Larxene and Vexen. Geez, this is starting to turn into a FF7/KH crossover now._


	14. Journey Thirteen: Alliance

_**Journey Thirteen – Alliance**_

_Sephiroth and Aerith vs. Vexen_

WHACK!

CLANG!

The sounds of Princess Guard and Masamune were gracefully attempting to break Vexen's defence, but as of yet when Sephiroth was in front of him, the long dirty blonde scientist have obviously had the advantage.

"I've got you now, One Winged Angel!" He smirked as he chanted with light blue aura around his shield weapon arm, he summoned his ice missiles on to the One Winged Angel's back as he turned around, but thankfully, Aerith was on time to provide last-minute defence as she twirled her staff and made the 'shattered glass' bowed in other directions.

"Thanks Aerith!" Sephiroth smiled a little as he positioned Masamune to his left offensive hand and lengthen the blade, to which after she let her staff lowered down their protection, he ungodly sped like the speed of light and performed his special attack, Black Slash, on to the XIII Order member as there were a few raven black feathers falling with poise. "Are you the shadows behind this Theophilus Star Government that want my wing?"

CLANG!

"Perhaps yes, since your black wing is such an interesting concept as a connection to Lost Eden's path." Vexen hissed as he counterattacked Sephiroth's charge with his shield weapon.

WHACK!

Sephiroth managed to defend eventually against the XIII Order member's strike as he smiled evilly, yet calmly at the same time. "If you're looking for an easier way to capture me, you're in for a shock! I have far greater strength than Hercules himself and I'm not giving up without losing!"

CLANG!

"Oh, really? Your strength reminds me of that famous Archangel Michael legend, where his strength is of ten hundred thousand men. Plus according to some research that I've found, he has black wings!"

WHACK!

"Shut up! I'm not here for you to hear some ridiculous myths from you!" And he retaliated with his Fire Storm spell, which did some damage on Vexen.

"Oh, I'm not telling you on some myths. Some centuries ago, there would be prophecies that the 'Son of the Archangel Michael would be the salvation to restore harmony and I believe you would be him."

CLANG!

"SHUT UP! I do not know, nor have seen the face of my biological father, but that Archangel Michael is NOT my father! You don't have proof to prove it!"

CLANG!

"I have, but you and that girlfriend of yours have gotten first to Seraphiel's Compass – the only object to locate the path to Lost Eden and give you the chance to see…"

"Sephiroth!" Aerith's voice shouted as she whacked Vexen's back, without realising his talk was his weak point of being defenceless. "Don't listen to him! Vexen's trying to distract your attention! Focus your attack!"

"You vile woman!" Vexen struggled to say as he positioned his weapon to her fragile, but tough body "I'll get you for that!" But unfortunately his counterattack was counterattacked again by the One Winged Angel's lengthen Masamune and with a few slash 'dances' and choreographed staff moves, Sephiroth sheathed his prized possession, slammed his hand on the ground; pulled out Kusanagi and attacked in just a quick time in addition to his explanation.

"Listen," he hissed angrily as his left hand was moving aggressively on the handle of the legendary sword, as he slashed Vexen's shield "and you'd better LISTEN good! That girlfriend you've mentioned of is not my girlfriend! She's just a friend with no common ground between us. And with Kusanagi on my left hand and Aerith's and my courage together, I'm sure you I could shut up for once!"

SLASH!

"Tch! Is this the power of…Kusanagi!"

* * *

_Lawrence vs. Larxene_

"Hold still, you fool!" The blonde female shouted as she attempted to threw her special knives at the crimson stranger, but all she had done was ripping his robe off, revealing his no-sleeve white shirt with a bright red necktie, arm-length dark maroon gauntlets alongside his jet-navy blue loosen trousers and dirty brown boots.

"Is this the best you've got?" Lawrence laughed, ignoring he lost the robe and mask, counterattacked with his archery skills at her, though she narrowly avoided his crimson arrows. "Seems, you're good at long range combat!"

"Well, you haven't seen my short range attacks!" And Larxene jumped quickly and tried to deliver a slash on to him, but he used his crimson dragons to lower the offence, while ambushing behind her with his short range assassin daggers, even though she quickly destroyed them.

CLANG!

His daggers were on contact to her knives. "Seems your short range skills are below par compared to my daggers."

CLANG!

"Shut up! Your attitude is worse if you're battling against women, especially me!"

CLANG!

"Oh come on! My female friend of mine never lets me to put my offence down, so I'll be treating the same to you!"

CLANG!

"Why are you, the others and your Master always getting in our way?"

CLANG!

"You XIII Order people constantly wanted to get something that are best left touched to my brother and his crew! So, this is an order from my boss – eliminate those who think they can steal first!"

CLANG!

"Grr! Guess I have no choice, but to kill you first!" Larxene threw her knives at Lawrence directly and summoned a spell of thunder and lightening at him, causing some minor damage to his arm.

"Hmm, very interesting. Guess I have to do that spell too." The crimson stranger then flipped backwards avoiding the lightening spells and when he was in the position, chanted a few Latin words and then, "BLOOD MAELSTORM!" and a whirlwind of crimson water came directly from the bottom of Larxene's position and deliver some damage. "Not bad for a completely new spell that doesn't require elemental properties!"

"Tch! I was just warming up, you hoodwink!" Larxene was struggling to get on her feet, as the cerise tornado died and her hands were full of glowing yellow knives, ready to deliver some major damage to him. "Now, feel my wrath of DESIRED DARKNESS AND HOPE YOU'LL SUFFER AS I HAVE FOR YOU!" And with her best efforts, she threw everything she can by means of the knives on the on-direct assault to the crimson stranger and then, it went on a blank canvas, as the attack was too bright to see the outcome of the fight.

_Bach, brother. _Lawrence to himself, while bringing out his bow and holding his arrow for a risky tactic. _Take care of Ashura, Aerith and Sephiroth if I die, should my arrow does not pierce that foul lady's assault. Master, I hope you know what I'm doing.

* * *

_

_Meanwhile on Ashura vs. Axel_

_Man, that crazy man must be good at swords! _Axel unusually happily thought as he tried to give some damage to Ashura using his Firewheel attack, but then deflected by the M.P.D. person's Persian Shasmir sword.

"Come on!" Ashura shouted, his eyes still flaming red and just about to slice the red haired man's spike wheels oncoming to him. "Where's your strength? I want to see it, before I'll crush it with my swords!"

"Want to see my strength?" Axel sarcastically replied as he managed to knock Ashura's Persian sword off from his hands. "I'll give you one!" And he charged up his weapons and threw like a boomerang effect that did some minor damage on his body, but nevertheless grabbed another swords – this time his very favourite items, a Korean sword, Ryong-Ming and the most beautiful Chinese long, thin sword, Yue Xue.

Ashura laughed so wickedly, his demon strength has somehow rocketed above abnormal, even stronger than Sephiroth's strength. "Guess you're a good fighter, like Sephiroth! Now, that's what I call a very worthy opponent." And the wave of dances of defence and offence can seen as beautiful pieces of many Chinese ballets.

CLANG!

"Only, if you're a skilled swordsman! I'm not into that department!"

CLANG!

"Yes, that's quite true, but that does not mean I can treat you the same as the One Winged Angel himself!"

CLANG!

"Then, why are you getting in our way!"

CLANG!

"I'm only interested in fighting opponents that are worthy of their strength and skills. That includes the XIII Order members!"

CLANG!

"Oh really? Well then, what have you got some connections with that crimson stranger?"

CLANG!

"Lawrence? I wish I could give the full explanation, but I refuse! Now, how about your godforsaken reason to capture Sephiroth, huh?"

CLANG!

"You would have to tell my boss to do the work!"

CLANG!

"Aaaaaawwwwww. That's such a shame, considering you people like to hide some facts outside the Theophilus Star System; I would have added you as my bodyguard. Now, it seems I would have to severely punish you for this!"

CLANG!

"The same would be for you! Your strong malice and crazy strength would have been the perfect gifts to add to our XIII Order collection!"

CLANG!

"This is so much fun! Now, it's so sad to end this, but now I would have to use my power! WATER CUTS!"

To this, Ashura's blades were glowing astral blue auras and with his malice still in place, sliced every piece of Axel's body, even though the red haired person is guarding on his defensive positions.

_Damn, this person is so hard to defeat, with all his malice in place. _Axel thought.

_XIII Order? Ha! _Ashura thought, while still slicing like mad. _Such a good opponent and yet, his strength is just too easy for me to defeat him!

* * *

_

_Meanwhile at the Second Eden Governor's Head Office_

The door opened automatically and appeared a young male, with short, but girly silver mane, dressed up for important issues, though holding on to some documents.

"Excuse me sir," he clearly explained to the red haired older person "but you've got visitors."

"Can't you see I'm busy, Kadaj!" He exclaimed angrily, as he was sorting out the files. "Tell them to bugger off and come back in about two months!"

"But sir, you have plenty of free time in your schedu…"

"I DON'T CARE! JUST GO AND TELL THEM!"

"Uh, okay." And Kadaj left the room, only to be in seconds later, being taken back to the office, this time a hostage to a lone swordsman, a young kunoichi, the girl with guns and the dirty blonde man with his shotgun, ready to shoot right at the young person's head, though in fear. "Uh, sir…"

"WHAT THE! Who the hell are you and why are you doing this?"

"No time to explain, Mister Corrupt!" Rufus smirked as he pulled the trigger and positioned his shotgun to Kadaj's head. "Either give us the full explanation or your assistant will go to Heaven, sooner than you think!"

"…" The Governor was all he could reply. "Fine, but my name is NOT MISTER CORRUPT! It's Renaults!"

Rufus grinned on his decision and let go of Kadaj, now running for his life from the terror. "Good, now if you're willing to cooperate, just give us one reason – Do you have any connections to the XII Order? We've heard one of your sons is a member of this organization."

"Why should I answer to that?"

"Well, I've heard that from him!" Yuffie exclaimed as she brought out her trademark large shuriken, while Leon was at the opposite of Renaults with his Gunblade pointing at his head. "So, you'll either be a nice man giving us what we needed or say 'sayonara' for the last time!"

"Okay, okay! Just don't cut my head off! If you really wanted to know about this, then fine.

"It all began when Theophilus Star System was at its highest peak of the Golden Age a few years ago, where technology and traditions were finally cooperating with other, after so many diplomatic terms tied. I was newly appointed as the Governor of Second Eden, whereas the others were Governors of Akagi, Genso, Mana Mosso, Agatiti, Senplice and Gravra. The core President of this Star System was a colleague of mine, Antoni Lewis and in a few short months, everything was calm and in peace after so many years of war and such ridiculous. However, a couple of months later, he was acting strange, muttering over some 'black cloaked men terrorising our position'.

"At first, I found this absurd, black cloaked men terrorising the Theophilus Star System, but then my luck was turning worse for wear – my eldest son, Alexi, went missing during that incident and after a few days in my office, those same men came out of nowhere and raided my place. Suddenly, there was a man covered in red and his head bandaged for some reason, came in front of my desk. He began saying his group, XIII Order, have taken the planets in the Theophilus Star System and even overthrown the core President's position. However, in exchange for hiding the facts that they are ruling this petit Star System, we have to research on this meddlesome planet Lost Eden, using the best technology this has been set up. My former classmate, Julian Yeager Senior, refused to make the technology needed for research and decided to leave the political issues and to start listening people over its products.

"On the other hand, those XIII Order members came to me again and provided with handful of cash. But they told me, should I refuse with this cash just to form another company, similar to Yeager Enterprises, my son would be killed. I was distraught they've got my son, yet at the same time, I didn't know what to do with this situation. And when I looked closely at one of them, I was…." He paused for such a long time, he could not even spit it out in front of the crowd and he broke into tears. "…I'm sorry. I can't continue with this."

"That's okay, old man," Rufus remarked, as he, Alda, along with Leon and Yuffie nearly left Renaults's office, "We've got what we wanted. It's up to you, whether you wanted to join our silent resistance for Y.E. or not."

* * *

_A little earlier, in the streets of Serapha_

"Dammit!" Bach cursed himself, as he was running at the same time, bringing out his guitar, Opera. "Why does that crimson bastard have to appear in this time of crisis?"

"Well, at least now we know where Ashura is." Eliza remarked as she was running with her puppet strings.

"And we know now Aerith and Sephiroth are in big trouble." Adrian stated, as he too kept his feet moving. "So, any news on their whereabouts, YESHUA?"

"I sensed their presences are nearly five metres away to the City Square." He replied without a note of emotion, but then unusually for a robot, he stopped, making the process continued to the crew.

"Why did you stop, YESHUA?" They all asked, but a column of bright light emerged in front of street and the people regardless of their activities, looked at the amazement, but also the horror behind this.

* * *

_Moving to present…_

The bright light disappeared and the unlikely alliance emerged, although with minor scratches and a few feathers shedding off Sephiroth's wing, in addition to the opposite, the XIII Order, with the crimson arrow now inserting the pain of Larxene's thigh, masses of cuts from Axel's body and a combination of blood-cuts and bruises, seen with the evidence of Vexen's face.

"Dammit…" The young blonde woman gasped "You'll be real sorry, when you're…messing with the XIII Order!"

"For now, we shall retreat." Axel smirked, as of all three member disappeared from trace and the citizens who were infected with Lawrence's spell, woke up, unaware what the event has happened and got back to life as normal.

However, on the other hand that the madness has calmed down, there were still some questions that needed to sort out this mess.

"Tell me," Sephiroth started with a question to the crimson stranger "Why are you still alive, without telling your younger brother?"

"Heh." Lawrence laughed a little when asked with a question. "That's a funny question you have."

"Well, not as funny as the connections with Ashura…"

"Ah, yes, Ashura. He saved my life a couple of years ago. Should I tell you the full story?"

"…Please do."

"Yes, but in exchange for my information, you must never tell this to Bach. I'm only here to test his commitment to his crew and if you should tell I was here talking to you, and then I had no choice, but to kill you in sight."

"…Fine with that."

"Hmm, where should I begin? Ah yes…"

* * *

_Couple of years ago in Saint Maria of Eden Hospital_

"_I'm sorry," Doctor Depp explained sadly to Yeager Senior "I couldn't bring back your fourth child to life."_

"_I see…" He solemnly replied without a moment to contemplate himself._

"_Your wife tried so hard to push him to the outside world, but then he stopped breathing. There's nothing we can about it, even though we've got the best equipment in the Theophilus Star System."_

"_So, this means my Lawrence only has a few months to live, right?"_

"…_I'm afraid so."_

_Eavesdropping on his bedside, the young Lawrence was worried that his life was at the very end and he still wanted to live as fully as possible. Until he saw two shadows on his lap and looked straight away – one with Victorian clothes and the other cloaked in white with the mask on._

"_Hello, Lawrence." The white stranger said softly to him._

"_W-w-w-w-w-who are you?" He asked, while being scared to death and coughed afterwards._

"_Don't worry, he's with me." The young gentleman responded gently. "I am Lord Ashura."_

"_Ashura? Are you going to kill me?"_

"_Kill you? Absolutely not. I'm here to save you from your timely death."_

"_Really?"_

"_Yes, but at a heavy price you must pay."_

"…_Tell me. Tell me how to live longer and I'll do anything for this."_

"_You must leave your family behind and come with him. I'll provide you with the best medication I have for you in exchange for this."_

"…_Okay, I guess."_

"_Good, now take my hand and we shall make haste as soon as possible."

* * *

_

"…" That was all Sephiroth and Aerith could respond. Somehow, their thoughts were connecting to Lawrence and Ashura…and that white stranger too. Who are they and why did they want only them to get to Lost Eden and not the XIII Order?

"Now you see why I have to warn you two about?" Lawrence asked and they nodded in response "I can't tell that to your friends, because I would fear they too, would be involved, but you, my Master tells you, that you need to protect yourselves, your black wing and Jehovah from getting into the wrong hands."

"…"

"Lawrence, you have some company." Ashura called softly. "It would be wise to leave this area immediately, before anything gets too ugly."

"Agreed. See you later." With a click of his fingers, Sephiroth, Aerith and Ashura could only do, is to watch Lawrence's MA, 'Azura' descend upon him, get on to the cockpit and watch him fly beyond the blue sky. Seconds later, it disappeared and the oncoming party soon joined them.

"You're rather late for this occasion." The eccentric swordsman noted as he closed his eyes and reopen to show his lavender iris.

"Where is he?" The strange guitarist asked with anger.

"If you're looking for him, I'm afraid he disappeared, before you came here."

"But right now," the One Winged Angel interrupted, before Bach ever got the chance "the one we are now concern is this – the XIII Order, Lost Eden, Seraphiel's Compass…and myself. I wanted to know why they wanted my wing."

"Yes, it all seems connected now. What a small galaxy we live in." And Ashura looked up to the clear, with the rest soon followed.

* * *

_Author's Notes: Sorry if this chapter took longer than a week, due to Graphics coursework over at school. Right, first things first, if you do not like my action scenes, then I'm apologise, though you can imagine that and time that in your head. I don't really care on how long the fights are going to last. And yes, for you Kadaj fans, he gets to have a cameo appearance there, just to please you._

_And if you are still confused about this conspiracy I'm creating, then don't worry. Read furthermore and your head becomes clear. So, this is the end of Episode One – The Exploration arc, as I am going to call it, because the next Journey will focus on around two years after the incident in Second Eden, but don't worry. This isn't the end of Nimbus Exploration. Think of it as Rurouni Kenshin's arcs, only mixing with Xenosaga. Same title, different time or something. Roll on Episode Two – The Evolution arc._

_Now, I would like to thank Lily Silver, Black Malva, Tish and fellow AeriSeph fans. Without you, I'll be writing another Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with flamers on and left you completely confused. Reviews, theories and comments are welcome, but no anti-AeriSeph mails and flames, please._


	15. Journey Fourteen: Reminiscence

_**Journey Fourteen – Reminiscence**_

_17th May_

_Two years, how long, yet so short time this mess have become. The Nimbus Galaxy is now the epicentre of conspiracy and I'm the unfortunate victim in the centre. Firstly, there are Lawrence and his party, are they our enemies or allies? Then here comes the XIII Order, who actually control the scenes behind the Theophilus Star System and Jehovah herself, who appeared in my dreams. What do these people and a robot have in common? Ah, yes. The connection between my black wing and only that Order wanted to capture me to unlock the path to Lost Eden. Speaking of which, that vision Jenova showed us, before she 'fell', admittedly, I really wanted to know what that man has to do with mother. Why did he insert something strange to me? And to add the confusion, the artefacts are now part of this conspiracy and yet, we've only found Kusanagi, the legendary sword so far. As for the Holy Magatama of Yasanaki and the Yata Mirror, even I have no idea._

_Finally, the research for Seraphiel's Compass is complete and now we fully understand its function – the ability to pinpoint the exact planet that you wish to see in no less than five seconds. But also, it also tells the history of each planet, which may be useful on my past that I've never step foot on beforehand._

_Well, I'd better wrap this blog entry up; I've got to train Aerith, now that she decided she wants to hone her staff skills…and of course, my sword skills._

_-Sephiroth

* * *

_

_Kinja Residence – Garden_

CLANG!

Practice after practice, Aerith tried her to thrust her end of Princess Guard to Sephiroth's new Chinese-style dark crimson-and-black gown from his chest, but in the end, she was defeated as his tip of his newly modified Masamune was above of her head, just slightly.

"At least, you're improved for the last few months," He noted, while she was catching her breath "and your magic skills are going along, too."

"Yeah…but," Aerith gasped as she tidied herself with her combination of her cherry top, deep red short sleeve shirt, alongside her bright red knee-length skirt and her black shorts "I'm not as strong as you, Sephiroth. I'm not like Sora, you know."

"Tea's ready!" Kei shouted as he brought a tray of Chinese teapot and cups "You guys must be tired from all that training."

"Gee, thanks Kei!" Aerith smiled as she took one and sat down on the floor. "So, how's your business in the bookshop industry?"

"Oh, it's fine. Just got a couple of rare ones, new releases and historical books, though with technology coming along, it's a bit hard to sell ancient types and whatnot. How about you? I've heard Sephiroth and you have recently formed a group to tackle this XIII Order…what is it called?"

"You're referring to Dratis Iris" The One Winged responded to Kei's question.

"'Dratis', eh? A local Second Eden language for 'spreading truth'."

"I would believe so and your sister's involved, too."

"Yes, it would seem so. And so did the others too, including the Yeager Enterprise."

"Speaking of which," Aerith spoke as she sipped her tea "I wonder how Yuffie and Leon are, since the two are testing their MA in the field."

"I wonder why their MA has Gummi technology. I mean, Gummi may have high defence and speed, but I still don't understand, why."

* * *

_Yeager Enterprise Testing Field, Agatiti_

With its speed as twice as a black chocobo, the MA Kami-Kaze dodged every oncoming dummy objects and shot them down, using 'her shuriken'. Meanwhile down on the ground, Eliza, Andrew and their newly assistant fresh from Lukia University, Yazoo were monitoring on the test.

"Miss Kinja and Andrew," the silver-haired person remarked "The results from YESHUA's upgrade system and check is complete. Would you like to see them?"

"Yes, please and Yazoo," Eliza replied as she handed him some documents "could you deliver this to the director?"

"Of course." And he left, leaving the two Chiefs alone.

"Are you happy now, YESHUA's not destroyed by some meteor or other disaster?"

"Yes, but you don't have to tell me that!" The Chief Engineer exclaimed. "But anyway, what surprises me is also my curiosity – how can he connect to Jehovah's system? I mean, he can connect to Lakia, but why Jehovah now? Two years ago and no one knows about this."

"True, that always seem to be in question, but I mean, since then, he's been closed to Aerith and Sephiroth for some time and I don't know how he relates to them."

"However, right now, let's just concern on Kami-Kaze. Speaking of which, here it comes."

Kami-Kaze descended onto the ground and when the hatch opened, Yuffie and Leon got out and felt a little 'MA-lagged' after so many tests in the last few days.

"So how are you feeling?" Eliza asked.

"Can I go to sleep, now?" Yuffie complained as her sanity was nearly out of order.

"Erm…no comment?" He softly joked.

"Well, we've 'tortured' you for a while, so technically yes." Andrew replied, rather soundly. "We've got what we need."

"Really? Yeah!"

"We'll let you know, whether Kami-Kaze is ready to go outside the testing range. YAZOO!" And the young man appeared in a quick time.

"Yes, Andrew?" he asked politely and was given a CD from the Chief Engineer.

"Could you take this data CD to H.Q. over at Second Eden, please? The director wanted to know Kami-Kaze's progress A.S.A.P."

"Yes, sir." And he soon went to the office, after a civil bow to Andrew.

"So, now what?" Yuffie asked with some curious thoughts "Can I take Kami-Kaze whether the sky takes, after I take a nap?"

"As soon Eliza's and my director over at Second Eden gets the go-ahead. Right now, I think your friend; Sephiroth is holding a meeting inside the Lukia National Library in Akagi soon, ever since he took the leadership role of the new group that has been co-operated by our company, too. "

"Yep. I hope you'll come to provide our support."

* * *

_Somewhere within the Nimbus Galaxy_

"Two years and you've still haven't captured the One Winged Angel?" The Superior cried with anger towards his three of the XIII Order members. "Not only that, but you did not report to me until the last minute. This is highly unacceptable for you three!"

"Hey!" Axel exclaimed with a hint of his smirk "I wasn't informed the One Winged Angel is a skilled swordsman!"

"Plus, not only that," Larxene explained bitterly "that One Winged Angel has allies, like that crimson stranger, that Lord Ashura and the lady!"

"We are truly sorry; we could not get our objective." Vexen apologised with the same expression as the blonde girl "However, we do least know what person we are now looking for."

"Aye, it is true." The Superior remarked "At any rate, while you're in Second Eden attempting to capture the objective, your fellow friends have unearthed the one of the three MAs, though we've lost the rogue MA, Jenova; thanks to that blasted MA, Jehovah!"

"So, what was the name of this newly discovered MA?"

"…Jennifer."

* * *

_Somewhere also in the Nimbus Galaxy_

"So, we've got a troublemaker in our hands." 'Master' recalled about this event Lawrence told him two years ago. "This XIII Order, is it true they have seized the Theophilus Star System, just to make them research to find Lost Eden?"

"Yes, well at least according to the sources from Renaults." The crimson stranger replied with some concern. "Not only that, but his son, Alexi, disappeared, during the time the Star System was completely seized by them."

"Come to think of it, wasn't Alexi joined the XIII Order, after some disputes with his dad?" Bellima asked with some curiosity.

"Unfortunately, we have no source regarding the connections between Alexi and the XIII Order." Ryoujin explained softly.

"So, I guess it's back to square one." And she sighed.

"Any plans to do further prevention to this XIII Order?" Astaroth asked with some interest in mind.

"…We shall wait and see…" The 'Master's' only replied to conclude the discussions.

* * *

_Lukia National Library, Akagi_

"All clear for meeting!" Yuffie shouted merrily, after searching the library for anything suspicious ad returned to the private room.

"Thanks Yuffie…" Sephiroth remarked "…but next time, don't shout in the library and in any circumstances, don't shout to us when we are suspicious around the environment!"

"Oh right! Oh right! Sheesh, you don't have to tell me." To which, the young kunoichi sat down next to Leon at the end of the left-hand side of the table.

"Before we move on to our mission, are there any questions as to why we're here in the library, instead in Second Eden?" Only Bach's hand had shown up. "What now, Bach? More silly complaints from nowhere?"

"Why and since when did you take the leadership role, Sephiroth?" Bach asked with a curious tone "I thought you didn't have enough skills to pilot the Vatican."

And then he sighed and grunted a little. "Listen, first of all, I'm not the admiral of some space ship I can't do. Even I have some difficulties of controlling Jehovah. And second, your father gave us a generous large sum, so that Aerith and I can form a resistance group against the XIII Order. Understand?"

"Uh, okay. Now over to you."

"Right, I've just got a word from the Governess of Mana Mosso and there's seemed to be a disturbance of a XIII Order member in there. I don't know what's going on in there, but at the same time, I've received an unknown message that he only wants Aerith and me."

Yuffie put her hand up immediately. "Do you know who it's from, Sephy?"

"No, not really and don't call me 'Sephy'! Only Aerith gets to say that!"

"Okay! Okay! You don't have to tell me so!"

"So, Leon would take the lead on sorting the mess out in Mana Mosso, while YESHUA, Aerith and I will meet this person."

"Wait, why are you taking YESHUA with you?" Eliza asked with her curiosity.

"I sense that person who wrote the message might have set up the trap, so it would be wise to take him along and he can connect to Jehovah's system. Plus, you have that newcomer, what's his name again?"

"Yazoo."

"…Yazoo, who can control Lakia's weapon controls, while you pilot. Now any questions?" No one put their hands up this time. "Apart from Aerith and YESHUA, you can go." And everyone left without a word, leaving Aerith and YESHUA behind.

"What message are you talking about Sephiroth?" She asked gently.

"Aerith, take out your mobile." He replied as he got out his 'flip mobile' from his left, long crimson sleeve of his new Chinese suit and Aerith soon followed suit, despite the confusion and little frustration that he did not answered her question. "Now, what do you see?"

"Huh? I've got a message?"

"Yes, now open the message, read and see what you think. I'll do the same." Feeling confused with his action, but she did and read this cryptic message from her mobile.

"_To: Sephiroth and Aerith_

_From: X_

_Come alone and meet me in the forest part at Mateel. There are discussions that are personal and confidential only to you and me."_

"Who on Hollow Bastion is X?"

"That doesn't matter to me. Although I don't trust this guy. However, if we don't do as the message told, who knows what's going on with this 'X'. Therefore, there is only one thing to do."

* * *

_The Next day. Inside the Vatican's MA docking area. Jehovah cockpit_

"Are you three over you heads?" Zack exclaimed on the screen as he was typing some controls. "You can't just go to Mateel alone! You'll be killed from those monsters!"

"Zack, don't concern Sephiroth, YESHUA and me." Aerith responded very gently to Zack. "Jehovah's defence systems are pretty powerful for protection and I think Sephiroth's piloting skills are vastly improving, despite only for two years."

The spike-haired person sighed as a reply, to which he has doubts over the One Winged Angel's MA skills. "Fine, but don't blame me, if the insurance doesn't count death." And with a touch of a button, the displays of the docking area was moved to the silent, beautiful; black blanket of the stars and next to the cockpit, the planet Mateel was 'next' to Jehovah.

"Master Sephiroth and Mistress Aerith," YESHUA's voice said in an expressionless tone. "The presence of the mysterious messenger is in the five kilometre range."

"Right, next stop – meeting with 'X' and sort out the mess of the events two years ago." Sephiroth remarked calmly, as his arms controlled down to the surface of the poisonous planet.

* * *

_Author's Notes: I would like to apologise to everyone about this rushed, short chapter and there is the reason – exams are coming up and now my chemistry teacher (who is head of this subject) now hates me and there's a little extra story after the author's notes. In other news, a present to Lily Silver – Yazoo has now joined the team and has some role to the fanfiction, though not really major. _

_And yes, I know the XIII Order is actually Organization XIII and the Superior is DiZ (or Samuran or Wilbur Wonka as I would like to call him. Ha ha! Lord of the Rings and CATCF jokes, because Christopher Lee is doing the voice of him), but since this is my fanfiction, I can modify slightly just to make you happy._

_And thus Episode 2 – The Evolution Era begins – Sephiroth and Aerith getting a new makeover (though in particular, Sephiroth's new clothes was the inspiration of Jin Uzuki's new costume from Xenosaga III and Citan's from Xenogears), Yazoo coming in and the confusing plot solved. Okay, so I made you more confused and I'm sorry._

_Thank you to Black Malva, Lily Silver, Tish, turtlerad17 and all the other AeriSeph fans! Reviews and comments are welcome, but no flamers or any AeriSeph hate mails! And enjoy the mini-story chapter! Nimbus Detour – where the journey needs to stop and think what it a moment happens!

* * *

_

_**EXTRA! Nimbus Detour – Bypass One – Accident**_

_Rufus's and Alda's apartment, City of Serapha_

DING DONG!

"Rufus, get the door!" Alda exclaimed as she was cleaning her Crane and Sparrow parts.

"Why can't you do it?" Rufus's voice shouted.

"I'm cleaning my guns and my legs need to get some rest. That marathon cost me my thighs!"

"All right!" And as soon as he opened the front door, he noticed a familiar person – long, silver hair and dressed very smart casually. "Yazoo?"

"Hello Rufus, I came to see you for a visit and explanation."

"Really? Then come in! Alda! Yazoo's here!"

A few minutes later and already, things were silent as the two men were opposite to each other and drinking their tea.

"I have some funny news about two years ago." Yazoo started off talking as he was sipping his milky tea. "My younger brother Kadaj got his first job as the Governor's assistant and something bad was happened."

"Really…" Rufus replied, albeit trying to stay calm from that event.

"Turns out, there was a raid in the office and at one time, Kadaj was held hostage by these weird people."

"Uh-huh, keep talking." Rufus was now drinking his tea at a slightly steep angle.

"And he received a death threat from this particular person that if the Governor refuses to cooperate, he will shoot my younger brother in the head."

"…So what was the description of this person threatening your younger brother?"

"He has loosely blonde hair, wears a white suit and has a shot gun."

Rufus stopped drinking and froze after what Yazoo described this 'person'. "…"

"Was it you that tries to threaten Kadaj to death two years ago?"

"Er…no. It was someone else. You must have taken the wrong person." Rufus nervously lied to him.

"I see. Well, thank you for your time." And with his final sip, Yazoo stood up and left the apartment. Then, Alda came in the living room, looking rather angry to the blonde guy.

"Did you have to make an excuse again, Rufus?" She asked.

* * *

_The Silver-Haired siblings' apartment_

Yazoo opened the front door and closed it gently and there, on the sofa, was Kadaj, curling up a roll and shivering in fear.

"Did…you…f-f-f-find the person….who…tried…to…kill…me?" He asked in fear; his emerald eyes wide open.

"Nope, turns out Rufus is not one of them." He replied and sighed at the same time.

"But…I…know…it's…him!"

"Well, you should have given me more details than these you've given me!"


	16. Journey Fifteen: Submerge

**_Journey Fifteen – Submerge_**

_Two years since I met Sephiroth for the first time in the Olympus Coliseum. Two years ago is where my eyes firstly laid on him. I thought that One Winged Angels were a bunch of bad luck superstition, but being saved by 'my knight in shining armour' Sephiroth, made me changed my mind. To be honest, I like his black wing and he's actually a shy, yet brave person I met. But then, during those two years, I became so close to him; I even talked to him around our private lives and my heart is bumping hard. I wonder if he noticed we've become so close together._

_I wish I could tell him that I'm in…_

"_Aerith…" called Sephiroth's voice gently.

* * *

_

_Mateel Surface_

_Jehovah cockpit_

"Aerith!" Sephiroth exclaimed to Aerith gently, as if she was dreaming into another world "I hate to spoil your dream, but if you don't do your job, it will be your fault for killing us."

"I'm sorry. I was just thinking." Aerith could replied to him as she 'woke up from dreamland' and got back on tapping softly on the holographic keyboard. Nothing seemed to happen as she looked beyond the projection screen around her, until the 'lines' picked up two anomalies on sight. "Uh, Sephy…"

As the anomalies were getting closer, it was getting clearer that there were two MAs in front of them a few minutes later – one of them the main individuals already knew Lawrence's MA, Azura. As for the other MA, it was pure white and had a griffin-shaped structure to it.

Aerith and Sephiroth stood still silently for some time, until the One Winged Angel sensed something was unusual.

"I would like to say thank you for coming here in such short notice." The unfamiliar, yet so familiar to Aerith, male voice remarked "However, we need to be quick, due to vicious creatures in the area when the sun sets."

* * *

_Mateel Surface_

_Outside_

"But first I need to know that you're not here to get my wing." Sephiroth cautiously announced via communicator "Are you the person responsible for sending a text message to us? And why did you bring along Lawrence? Did you say come alone specifically?"

"For the answers of your questions – yes, I am responsible for sending you a message, though you may called me 'Master' from now on. As for Lawrence, you brought Yeager's robot in for security, so I might as well take Lawrence should you fire at me in a situation."

"…"

"And I am certainly NOT capturing you for the sake of getting your wing. This would be a good reason why I wanted you two and that robot here for a good reason."

"And that would be YESHUA is now part of this story, too?"

"You could say that. In other words, there is something deep within his body that even the R and D department in Y.E. was unaware when they found him some time ago."

"So what are you suggesting me to do?"

"Get that robot into a full progressive scan over at Second Eden and you'll see why. That's all I can say."

"…"

"Master, I hate to say this, but the monsters inhabiting Mateel are fast approaching." Lawrence told to 'Master' via communication, while taking out the 'mechanical bow'.

"What!" 'Master' exclaimed as the white MA took out its 'staff', while the roaring sounds of footsteps are approaching "And the afternoon is turning to dark "Get out of here, while you still can Sephiroth and Aerith! Lawrence and I will provide distraction!"

The pilots in Jehovah couldn't say on the event, but in spite of the situation, it had no choice but to flee and get to space. Meanwhile back on ground, the grizzly inhabitants were here and ready to strike on the two MAs.

* * *

_Jehovah cockpit_

"Why on Earth did that guy wanted us to get out of here?" Sephiroth frustratingly asked to Aerith, while controlling his arms at a greater angle and facing towards the blue sky.

"I don't know, but looks like you've got company!" Aerith replied in fear that she looked at the screen with the three bleeping red dots identify as enemies and the One Winged Angel cursed himself for not getting to space in time, even though it was reaching the point of the black blanket.

"Guess I have no choice. YESHUA, how far do we have to reach Vatican?"

"We are approximately five thousand kilometres away from the docking area in the Vatican. However, with the aliens inhabiting the planet Mateel, there may be a probability of fifty-six percent chance of getting to the Vatican alive." Announced YESHUA's voice.

"Fifty-six, you say? Well, I'd better raise the stakes!" With his energy coming out in full force, Sephiroth pushed his legs that control Jehovah' legs and once the black blanket of space was visible, he was ready to battle.

Jehovah pulled out Masamune once it arrived in space floating; one of the aliens began to strike by thrusting its tongue to 'her' wing, though 'her' kicks managed to avoid the alien's wrath and counterstrike with a sword slash. While the MA was rushing to the entrance of the Vatican's docking area, another alien intervene the opportunity and slashed the MA with its white fire breath claw hack.

But no matter what damage the alien has done to Jehovah, 'she' triumphed by attacking the alien and move on to the destination. Though, the third and final alien had its trick up in its sleeve as tentacles coming out of its back and tightens the grip to the torso of the 'One Winged MA'.

Jehovah struggled to get free from the wrath, but to no avail and despite many cuts from Masamune and tiny pieces of missiles coming from the 'wing', the MA was on the verge on giving up.

* * *

_Bridge, Vatican_

"Great!" Zack cursed himself as he couldn't help, but to watch on the holographic in the event that was happening. "I'm stuck here watching those three get crushed and what do I get?"

"Zack, please!" Eliza scolded as she was planning at the second. "If Jehovah' in trouble, then we have no choice. Yazoo, get into Lakia now." Yazoo, though halfway sleeping, woke up pretty quickly, when the Afro-Edian co-engineer gave him orders.

"What? But I've never pilot an MA before." The long silver-haired person replied with surprise.

"I'm not saying you are going to pilot Lakia, I am. You're just going to control the weapons and such, while I'll do the handling of this baby."

"Oh right, but still…"

* * *

_Jehovah cockpit_

Sephiroth struggled to move again, as the actions of the controls follow the same pattern for the MA itself.

"I…let my…guard…down…" he groaned to Aerith. "…sorry if I…got you…into…this…mess…guess that I have…to…give up…"

"Don't say 'sorry' to me!" Aerith exclaimed as she stood up and face towards in front of his face. "I know you, since we first met each other at the Olympus Coliseum and during the tournament; you never gave up the fight, even when battling against Bach. And then you saved me from Lawrence's crimson dragon when I couldn't find a way to be free from its grasp. Next, you saved me from being killed by an insane version of you back in Terra and then when you're in trouble with that blonde swordsman, I don't know what on earth the celestial wires are coming from, but it was my turn to save you.

And do I see you giving up right now? That's not the Sephiroth I know!" Tears are coming out of her face as she was protesting about the One Winged Angel giving up hope. "Please, for my sake, DON'T GIVE UP! Remember that promise you said to me over in Akagi?"

Sephiroth remembered that promise he gave to Aerith - _I'll take you to the moonlit sky, where I'll show you can walk on the clouds and we'll dance behind the moon to our hearts' contents – _and his eyes were on contact to Aerith's sad face.

_That promise I said to her, _he thought, while his body could not cope on standing still any longer _I can't break that right? What were mother's words said to me, before we become separated again?_

'_Mummy?'_

'_Yes, Sephy dear?'_

'_What's a promise?'_

'_Hmm, you're such a curious boy, aren't you?'_

'_I just want to know.'_

'_Well since you ask the question, a promise is when you say to a person that you will do something for her or him. However, once you made a promise, that promise cannot be broken; even if the situation is dire.'_

_So that's what a promise is. If I can't break that promise, I must survive and do it…for Aerith._

"Yes. That promise I said to you. I can't break it right now, can't I?"

"Uh-huh, so are you willing never to give up and do that promise to me?"

"I guess so…" And Aerith smiled once again, seeing that he still remembered the promise he said to her.

"That's the spirit! That's the Sephiroth I know of! Together, no matter how tough the battle we're in, we can go through one hurdle at a time and never stop, until we reach our goal!"

Unfortunately for Aerith standing up, the shake of the alien pulling Jehovah made her fall backwards, before Sephiroth managed to get his right hand (as Masamune was actually on the left hand he still controls) free and caught her hand. Then out of the blue, a streaking azure lighting came from nowhere and cut the wires, to which, a holographic screen of Eliza came in front of Sephiroth.

"Phew!" she exclaimed in relief "Glad I'm came over and saved your butts!"

"Eliza?" he asked in surprise as he was fully able to be free and checked his limbs were not stiff enough to move "I thought only YESHUA can pilot Lakia."

"Well, I'm the engineer of YESHUA and I created Lakia, so I can pilot Lakia whenever I want to. Plus, with my assistant Yazoo doing the weapon controls, there'll be no troubles here. Now, hurry up and get back to the Vatican! Everyone's worried about you!"

* * *

_Bridge, several minutes later_

"You say YESHUA's got the secrets inside his body?" the engineer asked in surprise as she was walking in paces rather quickly and Yazoo, in the meantime, felt confused with the new situation.

"Well, at least," Aerith replied as she crossed her arms and put her left hand to her delicate soft chin "that person in the white MA told us about him."

"That is strange. I thought YESHUA was created by my director, Reeve Tuesti along with Andrew and me, but still, I have doubts that we had a full progress check for a long time to see if he was created by a different person."

"Would it be possible if we can check YESHUA's memory again?" Sephiroth asked intelligential, but also with some concern and caution.

"In a way, yes. However. In order to full check YESHUA's memory, I need to get permission from Reeve, before the progress can begin in Yeager Enterprise's Defragmenter Department." Then she faced towards the cyborg. "So, what do you think YESHUA?"

"I believe that a full progress check would be inventible." He replied quickly and unemotionally.

However…

* * *

_Several hours later_

_Reeve's Office, Yeager Enterprise Research and Development Building, Serapha, Second Eden_

"Are you out of your mind, Miss Kinja?" Reeve asked to Eliza rather very surprisingly and somewhat angrily, while fixing the parts of Cait Sith. "YESHUA is completely fine as he is."

"But sir," Eliza said with some compassion to her director "we haven't looked on his memory for the past few months, so shouldn't it be a good time to check for viruses?"

"What does Andrew think of this? I consider he does not agree with you."

"Oh, I've already talked to him via the visual communicator and he gave the go ahead to do it."

"What the? Did he?" He stopped fixing Cait Sith and then stood up, putting his hand on Eliza's shoulder "Eliza, you and Andrew have always been loyal to me, since creating YESHUA. However, once you do a full progress check, make sure you bring him back in one piece."

"You mean that's a 'yes'?" Reeve nodded in advance and Eliza was in a full good mood. "Thank you sir! I won't let you down!" And once she got out the office door and faced with Yazoo, Aerith, Sephiroth and Andrew. "He said yes."

"Finally!" Andrew exclaimed as he put his arms around Eliza unexpectedly "We can celebrate! All we need to do now is to check YESHUA tomorrow!"

"Uh, why not now?" Aerith asked with some curiosity.

"Well, preparations for the progress check needs to be set up for a while and it's not going to be complete until tomorrow. So, in the meantime, let's go nuts and drink in for the night!"

* * *

_Next day, entrance to Defragmenter Department building_

Sephiroth rubbed his head pretty hard after a somewhat party last night, while he, Aerith and the others walked to the entrance of the Defragmenter Department building.

"Did I just drink too much sake?" He asked to Aerith "And did I just punch someone last night?"

"Well, after Leon and the other guys went back to Second Eden from Genso and everyone celebrating at the Eleventh Heaven Bar, I think you punched Bach and Leon and then Adrian. But in other news, I think you only punch them a little and no harm done there Sephy, though the hangover..."

"Oh god…"

"But anyways, as long as you don't punch Leon in the stomach, I won't take revenge on you!" Yuffie jokingly remarked as she tagged the party along.

"It won't, for you Yuffie." Leon sarcastically replied as he walked behind Yuffie.

"Hey!"

Once they arrived in the building and went up in the lift until it went to floor sixty-six, they arrived at the room, which had full of weird, yet so cool technology and in the middle was YESHUA 'floating' as many wires were connecting on to his back. And then Andrew and the director, Reeve arrived in front of them, as they were in the platform with many people typing on the holographic keyboards.

"There you are, Eliza." The director quickly remarked as he walked to them. "Where have you been? The progress check is about to begin."

"Okay, okay! I'll go to my position!" Eliza shouted as she ran to her computer.

"Sorry, guys for the unnecessary mess out there. Well as you can see, the people behind YESHUA creation are now in position for a full progress check. I don't know how long this will take, but I assure that this won't as long as last year."

"Reeve, we're ready to go!" Shouted one of the engineers.

"Okay, now hit the switch!"

At the first few minutes, all would seem fine for the robot, until at the fifth minute, something went wrong. Sephiroth, at the viewers' room, felt something was actually inside and he coughed up a little blood as he covered his mouth. Aerith, being the only woman beside him, looked at him, to which she was concerned gradually at the second.

"Sephiroth, are you okay?" she asked in fear.

"Aerith, I don't feel so normal." He replied gradually weakening his voice. "I need somewhere to sit…"

Then a warning siren was heard and the room went red.

"Reeve!" shouted one of the female engineers "There's a silent virus coming in from nowhere and it's spreading on YESHUA's memory bank!"

"WHAT?" Reeve exclaimed as he typed the holographic keyboard so fast "Dammit! So there is a virus! Yazoo, have you got any ideas to where it came from?"

Yazoo, in a while, trying his best to type the keyboard, as several of the screens popped up and said quickly "Twenty percent are coming from the XIII Order and the rest are from an unknown group! There's too much, sir!"

"XIII Order? Shit! And now it's spreading!" And within the few minutes, a pandemic was struck with many people trying at best, preventing the virus from damaging YESHUA's memory. However, several minutes into the event and another was created.

"Sir, the virus is spreading fast and it's heading to the main system in the Defragmenter Department!" shouted Andrew with panic in his face.

"What the? That's impossible! I thought the virus is only spreading at YESHUA, but why the building?"

Meanwhile, Sephiroth's black wing was shredding more feathers than he thought and with his face growing paler, he was coughing blood.

"Sephiroth! Are you really okay?" Aerith cried as she grew more concern for his health and gave her support by putting her arms on back.

"Aerith, just find me a…" Unfortunately for his sentence to finish, Sephiroth fell down with his face on the floor and fell unconscious in front of her and everyone else, apart from the engineers working their best to prevent the virus.

"Sephiroth? SEPHIROTH?"

* * *

_Bright light appears and Sephiroth could not believe where the heck he is. Until he can hear a male voice from his back and it came from the same person from the memory Jenova showed to them. A black-haired person, wearing a lab coat._

"_You would be probably being thinking where you are Sephiroth." He remarked calmly._

"_Who are you?" Sephiroth asked with fear bringing in for the first time._

"_I came here to tell you. The past that I've tried to seal so that everyone can live in peace for over a thousand years. I came to save you from what our world has become over a thousand years ago – an inexpressible tragedy that left many people in suffering – and I did by doing something that I shouldn't mess with by playing God and sent you into the future, along with your mother to live in a good life."_

"_You haven't even answered my question!"_

"_I'm someone who would be very familiar when I say my name. I am Hojo and I'm the person who saved your mother and you. I'm the one who inserted the Noir Wing Key transfusion liquid into your body. I'm your father, to whom you are my only son to have survived the effect."_

"_Father…? Noir Wing Key…? Over a thousand years ago? Impossible…"_

"_There isn't much time. Should you seek to find the truth more, come into the robot's memory and all shall be revealed."_

"_You mean YESHUA?"

* * *

_

"For the love of Genso, YESHUA's going AWOL and he's shutting down his system!" Eliza shouted as she looked in horror as YESHUA couldn't take the strain any more and decided to his system down by automatically taking the wires out, without using the limbs.

Meanwhile, Aerith tried her best to 'revive' Sephiroth by performing something that would be a little embarrassed. A kiss of life or CPR.

"Sephiroth, please don't die!" She cried as she placed her hands and gets him 'moving'. No response. And yet, she continued to do so, until when the last wire was cut from YESHUA's body, Sephiroth was barely woken up and his eyes opened to Aerith with tears flowing.

"Aerith…" he said in a pale voice and he can hear voices of many people murmuring about YESHUA shutting down by himself and saw a couple of engineers getting off the computers and start helping the mess. "…we need to go inside YESHUA."

"What are you talking about?" She asked "There is no way we can get into YESHUA's body."

"I think there is a way." Yazoo remarked as he and Eliza came to them. "Though it requires bravery, I think the only way to sort YESHUA's virus, is to go 'submerge'."

"Submerge?" Aerith, Sephiroth, Leon and Yuffie asked in curiosity.

"Yes. Although it will not work on humanoids, such as Alda, it seems only you four, among with Rufus and Adrian can do it by using the special glasses and dive into YESHUA's memory mentally."

"But why not Eliza, Bach or even Zack?" The One Winged Angel asked.

"Eliza is checking to see whether you are going to lose your mind once you go into his memory; Bach's got technophobia when it comes to submerging the robots and Zack…well, he couldn't be just bothered, but to go out into Eleventh Heaven Bar every day. So I guess it's down to you."

* * *

_Several hours later_

"Are you ready to submerge, guys?" Eliza asked as she was typing, while Yazoo was checking to see any check inside the control room.

"Remind me, why are we wearing these funky glasses again?" Yuffie wondered as she was messing with the red-tinted glasses with much text coming out of the glasses themselves; while Sephiroth, Aerith, Leon, Rufus and Adrian were wearing one each.

"Yuffie, please put them on, otherwise your mind would leave the body forever without wearing it. Now, when you give me the signal, it's time to go inside YESHUA's memory bank!"

"I'm ready." Rufus said in a quick reply.

"Submerge me, whenever you're ready!" Yuffie replied happily, now wearing the glasses.

"Just make this quick ASAP" Leon replied without a second to hesitate.

"Ready." Adrian replied.

"I'm ready." Aerith replied, but then she moved forward to Sephiroth with a whisper "Could you hold my hand, please Sephy? I'm afraid to go alone."

"Okay." He whispered to her, to which he held her soft small hand and then replied to Eliza "Okay, I'm ready."

"Right, submerging in three…two…one…" And once she pressed the all important button, the party were thrusted into the light and now were submerging into an unknown territory – inside YESHUA's memory bank.

* * *

_Author's Notes: This will be the last chapter, before going into the A2 Summer Exam this year (Sobs like Loz). Yes, I know some fans, like Lily Silver, and me have to do some bloomin' revision in the summer, but at least, at the end of June, I can write some more chapters just to please you._

_Right before I say to you, I'm not good at action scenes, so do that in your head and you can make it as short or long as you like it! And two new characters are coming here, though from FFVII. Reeve, now Eliza's 'boss', is now revealed as the creator and director of YESHUA and then the mad scientist and Sephiroth's father (yes, you heard me), Hojo, who is not so mad anymore and still is Sephiroth's father. Now before you say '(BLEEP!) Hojo's not Sephiroth's dad!' go to type 'Vincent Valentine' on the search engine or something and look at the trivia. Don't say I didn't warn you. By the way, I have a blog that has extra features (okay, not really yet) on Nimbus Exploration, called Fan Novel Approach and if you click on my username and look for the 'F-N-A' link, you should go there for just a bit of fun and take a look, though you can comment, as long as you don't talk rubbish._

_Right, first things first. Big thank you to Foi, Lily Silver, Tish; turtlerad17 and many AeriSeph fans! Keep those reviews coming in, except for hate mails. And as a special treat, before I go into revision hell, here it is another Nimbus Detour mini-chapter and for the disclaimer note, I DO NOT OWN GUITAR HERO and its music. Harmonix and RedOctane do own the game, among with various artists who made the music.

* * *

_

_**Nimbus Detour – Bypass Two – Guitar**_

_Kinja Residence, Serapha, Second Eden_

"SEPHIROTH!" Cloud shouted as he came from nowhere and entered the garden, where Sephiroth, Aerith and Kei were enjoying themselves by a game of Go, before the blonde swordsman interrupted the game to where Sephiroth's black piece nearly captured Kei's white pieces. "SEPHIROTH, YOU BASTARD! WHY HAVE YOU STEAL AERITH TO BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND!"

"Steal? Girlfriend?" Sephiroth asked in a curious manner "Listen, first of all Cloud; where the hell did you come from? Second, Aerith and I are not into a serious romantic relationship (at the moment) and thirdly, I'm not into a good mood into fighting you, right now."

Come to think of it, Sephiroth was right. Cloud did wondered how he got in Second Eden from nowhere and not to mention what sort transportation did he travel, but regardless of it, he shook his head and continued glaring at the One Winged Angel. "Listen, because you did a terrible act that might change the face of the situation, I'm challenging you to a duel!"

"What? With swords again? You know you're going to win against me, because you're always having impossible strength that I would lose again and again, every time we duel against each other."

"Not this time! I'm through with swordplay, so it's time for…"

* * *

_Next morning in Kinja Residence_

"Tell me again why would Sephiroth want a PS2 and a copy of Guitar Hero?" Bach asked in interest as he was very confused with the situation.

"Well, my dear old friend Cloud wants to challenge Sephiroth for a guitar duel and whoever can last on strumming on every song in expert mode the longest wins." Aerith answered with a little confusion and a few minutes later, the two rivals came in style, each with a case with their custom design guitar. The gentlemen put down their cases and opened in a way that would be indescribable.

Sephiroth's guitar consist of the normal five buttons and a 'strummer', except the guitar was shaped very similar to Masamune, but with Gibson SG modified, with jet black and silver design and named it 'Killy'. Cloud's, however, was the same controls as Sephiroth's, but with the Buster Sword shape and named it 'Aslan'. Once, the guitars were plugged into the PS2 controller ports and the game 'switched on', it was down to business.

"Right, shall we go to 'November Rain'?" Cloud asked to Sephiroth bitterly.

"Nah, how about 'Smoke on the Water' for a start?" The One Winged Angel replied.

* * *

_Several minutes of rock music and strumming later_

"Man, I don't know when these men get tired!" Kei surprisingly exclaimed as he handed some drinks to Aerith and anyone else who were just curious to see the rivals strumming their way, while despite the need for going to the toilet, Sephiroth and Cloud were strumming their strings, desperate to show who can be the true victor. With the One Winged Angel in the Sonic Youth position and Cloud in the Ramone position, there was no sign of these men breaking down of their fingers crippled. Once the song was finished…

"That's 'Take Me Out' sorted and 'Bohemian Rhapsody' done and out of the twenty-eight songs, it's a draw." Sephiroth announced, while he worked on his hands.

"Yeah but it isn't over with one last song – 'November Rain'." Cloud snarled as he chose the song and got into position. "Now we can see who the winner of being a guitar hero is!"

And they began to strum their way, until at halfway point of a very long song suddenly; the PS2 was switched off abruptly by Bach.

"HEY!" The two 'guitarists' protested angrily "WHAT GIVES YOU IDIOT?"

"I'm tired of you two of overheating my PS2, so I pulled the plug and make sure you two don't have lazy eyes, like those gamers had."

"Oh really…" Sephiroth said evilly as he unsheathed Masamune.

"You just paid the price of interrupting the duel between Sephiroth and me…" Cloud replied evilly as he took out his Buster Sword.

* * *

_Few minutes of slashing and hacking later_

"Shall we call it a truce for now?" Cloud asked rather politely and bitterly at the same time to Sephiroth.

"I guess it would have to be, since our duel was interrupted." Sephiroth replied as he smiled for once that he did not lose by the blonde swordsman for once.

And so, for the first time, the guitar duel was not won by Cloud Strife as usual, nor Sephiroth, but a draw, where the guitarist interrupted their 'fight' and finally has a truce for a while. As for Bach, well, uh…he paid the price for interrupting the scene.

"Ouch." He painfully said.


	17. Journey Sixteen: Paradise Eden

**_Journey Sixteen – Paradise Eden_**

**_N.B. This is where the spoiler warning come in now, so unless you read the last fifteen (including the prologue) journeys, your head will now be confused and the plot will be spoilt for your enjoyment. Enjoy!_**

_Huh? Where are we? And what happened to Yuffie, Leon and Adrian?_

Unsure where the three individuals are, Aerith, Sephiroth and Rufus ended up in a location they have never heard of. No crowds walking, just a couple of stairs spiralling out of nowhere in this dark environment.

"Argh!" Rufus cried in agony as he was completely lost with them. "Is this YESHUA's memory? I thought it would be more robotic than that!"

"Well, whatever it is, we'd better be careful." Sephiroth explained as he carefully observed for any danger in sight, with his left hand on Masamune's grip ready for combat. "I sensed something is waiting for us."

"But one thing that feels so unsettling to me," Aerith remarked with some mixture of fear and calm as she was looking for exit. "If we don't move right now, there may be…huh?"

"What is it Aerith, baby?" Rufus asked in a curious manner.

"I though I saw a small boy." And there it is again in Aerith's eyes, on top floor, a small boy looking at her and her companions, only to have disappeared a second later and her action was taken sooner unusually as she ran on a flight of stairs that followed the small boy.

"Aerith, what on Hollow Bastion's name are you doing?" Sephiroth shouted with concern as he followed her, along with Rufus, as he brought his shotgun by his side.

"I thought I saw this small boy running through the hallway." She hurryingly panted as she ran the small boy's path.

Step by step, with anxiety and excitement by her side, Aerith ran without her breath breaking, trailed behind by Sephiroth and Rufus and when they ended up in a door of where the supposed small boy is, she was sure he was in here.

"I knew he's in here." She remarked calmly as she was about to grab on to the doorknob. "I'm sure he went into this door."

"What happens if we ended up the wrong way round?" Rufus carefully warned her. "If you lead us to oblivion, I'm never going to trust women!"

"It's okay, I'm used to face danger." And with her body ignoring the mind of her conscience and the two men behind her protesting, Aerith turned the knob anti-clockwise and once opened towards her, all the threesome could see is that shimmering light.

* * *

"Ugh." Yuffie could only say, after that baffled dive. However, what she could see is the darkness that surrounded her, until she can hear a male voice. 

"Yuffie, wake up. Wake up. Oh for crying out loud, wake up!"

"Okay, okay, I'm opening my eyes now Leon!" She shouted in disapproval, but once she opened her eyes, Yuffie was amazingly baffled. Not only she saw the lone swordsman and the half-Chinese man in front of her, but the environment they were in, was sort of surreal. Lots of skyscrapers with trees and yet, no crowds were there. Only them. "Am I in 'Robo-boy's' memory?"

"Sort of." Leon replied quickly with some sort of disgruntled accent. "I don't know what these glasses are for, but one thing's for sure, we are definitely in some sort of really weird world."

"Then…wait a second! Where are Sephy, Aerith and that blonde guy?"

"You mean, Rufus?" Adrian responded in interest "It seems that Eliza and Yazoo haven't managed to get used to the dive controls just yet and now, split the three of us somewhere in YESHUA's memory."

"Aw, man! Now, we have to find her the hard way!" And when Yuffie stood up, the other party now had to cross the unknown, not giving the fact that she and Leon were entering into foreign territory for the first time, since landing in the Theophilus Star System.

Many seconds and minutes later and still no luck. Until, they stopped at the building in front of them and a voice is heard out loud – a deep male voice babbling about some sort of doomsday event.

"Uh, Leon," Yuffie bewilderedly asked to him "what on moogle's name is he doing here?"

"I have no idea Yuffie, but there's something familiar with him. His face, he looks similar to…"

* * *

Back at reality in the room, Eliza and Yazoo tried their best on handling the situation as soon as possible, but their new experience with the latest technology seem to be on the dwindling side. 

"Uh, Chief…" The silver haired technician nervously asked his mentor "There seems to be the problem with the 'divers' splitting themselves into three."

"I know that Yazoo!" She exclaimed as she was typing so fast on getting the problem eradicated as quickly as possible. "Just let me fix the bug found in YESHUA's memory!"

* * *

"Now, where are we?" Sephiroth frustratingly asked to anyone as he opened his emerald green eyes…and now the threesome are in a different environment – instead of a dark corridor full of stairs that lead to anywhere, but a futuristic world, where technology has advanced flourishingly and sat beside with nature. And suddenly, he saw a person on a swing, no a boy, who has not only the same features as him, but he has the same black wing as him! "It can't be…" 

"Sephiroth, is there…" Aerith was about to ask him, until she saw that boy. "But that's not possible…"

"I don't care where the hell we are," Rufus finally snapped himself "I'm going to find an exit and get us out of here." And he did, only that he started again in front of them.

"Wow, that was fast." Sephiroth sarcastically replied to the blonde gunner "Did the trip managed to end right that fast?"

"Oh, shut up!"

"Besides, unless you want to run around again and again, we stuck in this dimension." With that statement, the One Winged Angel left with Rufus in his own device; with Aerith and himself walking to the boy on a swing as Sephiroth sat down next to him. "Why would YESHUA remember me as a small boy? He wasn't even here when I was younger."

"I don't really know either," She began to start worrying about this 'mess' and put her hand softly touching on his hand, "but I'm sure this place doesn't look familiar to you."

"Uh, guys, you'll never believe this, but inside YESHUA's memory, we're in the actual setting of Lost Eden." 

"WHAT?" They both shouted in amazement. "How did you know?"

"Well, there was a sign that says 'Rockin' on Paradise Eden' and with my mind, I think we're in Lost Eden for sure."

"Which is why I sent you here." Said a mysterious voice and on one occasion, the three characters were surprise to see that instead of the younger version of Sephiroth, next to the One Winged Angel was a person with black hair in a similar style to him, except it was tied up like a ponytail and steel rimmed glasses he wore and the expression was the same as his.

"Are you really my father, Hojo?" Sephiroth asked to this person, while Rufus and Aerith were surprised to see this new event.

"In a way, yes. However, I am just a memory hidden away safely, to which I managed to survive by inputting what remains in my body to the memory of what you called, 'YESHUA', before 'Paradise' became 'Lost' over a thousand years ago."

* * *

"No way, that person looks like Sephy!" Yuffie exclaimed in surprise, while looking upwards. 

"I'll say," Adrian agreed with Yuffie, "He may look like Sephiroth, but his hair isn't. It looks more black hair to me". And then they were still listening to that mad person's sayings.

"…Paradise Eden is nothing more, but a dream we cannot accomplish. We cannot win against them and it's spreading fast! WE must atone for our sins on creating our own versions of monsters and letting them loose.

"I, for one, will be the many people who are carrying such burden you people have done to this world and together, we can cleanse Paradise Eden into a perfect utopia!"

And before they thought that mad person stopped talking, he fell off from the edge, diving into death.

"Oh my…" Yuffie screamed a little as she covered her eyes, until suddenly as she revealed her face, Leon, Adrian and herself were right in front of Sephiroth, Aerith and Rufus! "What the...?"

"Guess, I have to cancel the search." Rufus sarcastically joked to Yuffie.

"Very funny, Rufus. But more importantly, who's the dude next to Sephy?"

"That 'dude' next to me, is Hojo," Sephiroth explained to Yuffie "But for God's sake, don't call me…"

"I never seen this so enjoyable, even though I'm just a figment of memory." Hojo laughed so softly.

"It's good to see you, Hojo." Heard a young female voice that is familiar to Aerith, Sephiroth and for some reason, Hojo.

"The same can be said, Jehovah." And the young girl in white appeared from behind his position, that only the One Winged Angel, the man in a white lab coat and Aerith seem not to be surprised. But for others, they were baffled to see the mecha to arrive as a girl in appearance. "Did anyone know that your memory has been struck by the XIII Order's virus?"

"Yes, but thankfully, I managed to overturn the virus, in time after diving mentally to Sephiroth, my son's mind."

Yuffie, interrupted the scene when he mentioned 'my son's' "Hang on a minute! You're Sephiroth's father?"

"…Yes."

"However," Sephiroth soon started 'barging in the scene' "That doesn't mean I am happy with the situation. There are still unanswered questions I want you to answer – What is the Noir Key transfusion? Has the Archangel Michael got some connections to Lost Eden, along with its artefacts? Has mother and I got involved into this mess and more importantly, what is so special with the black wing on my back?"

Hojo wiped his glasses, before putting back onto his face and stood up. "Those were some good questions you have. Let me take you and your company to Paradise Eden over a thousand years ago, before the crisis took place." With a click on his fingers, he sent the company to a bright light, before the memory could begin.

* * *

_**Paradise Eden – thousand and one years before crisis**_

_A party was held in a room of a building, where a mixture of past and present features come in and many people were enjoying themselves in the middle of a clear night in a full moon. Hojo, however in his formal Japanese attire, was looking at the skyline somewhere on the balcony and before he can contemplate, he heard footsteps behind his back._

"_Hojo, what are you doing here?" asked a familiar female voice, when he turned his back towards her._

"_Oh, Lucrecia." He surprisingly remarked as he saw his wife, rubbing her 'swollen' body. "I'm surprised you're here. Shouldn't you be inside the party?"_

"_With only my baby inside that's coming out in around two months and me alone? Not likely!" And before Hojo could get back to see the night sky, she grabbed on to his left arm._

"_Hey, what are you doing!" he exclaimed in surprise as he was dragged by his wife and entering back to the party scene._

"_I'm taking you back to the party, where you can enjoy socialising with your friends! And don't you say it again with the word 'but'!"_

"_Then how the heck…?" He sighed, giving up as a sign for Lucrecia's victory. "Fine, you win, my dear."_

"_So, how shall we call our baby, once it's arrived?"_

"_I don't really know. Maybe, we should name this baby after that branch from the tree of life philosophy."_

"_Are you serious? What happens if the children are just teasing with his name?"_

"_I am, but I don't think the children are grown up yet to tease. How about 'Sephira' if the baby's a girl or 'Sephiroth' if the baby's a boy."_

"So that's how you got your name!" Yuffie exclaimed merrily as she interrupted the scene "Can I call you 'Sephira', now?"

"Are you trying to wind me up?" Sephiroth asked with frustration and a little nervous breakdown.

"Aw, you're blushing. That's something unusual for a strong One Winged Angel!"

"Look, I'm not blushing and would you please stop winding me up!" He tried his best to hide his embarrassment by standing behind Aerith and holding her left hand. Soon, the scene was shifted to another scene, where the speech comes in and it was Hojo's turn.

"…_And so, you see, I think because religion, technology and science are now in line with each other, the past, the present and the future are now working together to be with us at peace."_

_Everyone applauded for his memorable speech and soon he was to wrap it all up in time for another surprising guest._

"_And now, I'll give you Professor Ashura Cheng of the Research and Development section to give you the news on the latest development." And everyone applauded when Ashura's appearance came to the stage. _

"Ashura?" Aerith asked with some surprise, but also confusion "Doesn't his features look similar to the Ashura we know?"

"I'm definitely sure that he is when I last fought him." The One Winged Angel replied, knowing that he knew his face at the start. Just then, another scene had switched from the previous scene to where a person with short white hair, with his face never shown that he was walking towards Ashura and Hojo.

"_Hello, my dear friends." The white-haired man greeted with a smooth voice._

"_It's good to see you, again Mister Vaughn." Ashura happily greeted back to 'Vaughn'._

"_Oh, hello Vaughn-san." Hojo neutrally greeted to his friend "So how are things on being the governor of New London in Paradise Eden?"_

"_Oh, it's fine with the usual stuff. However, I am bored with the usual diplomatic things with meeting many people from different planets."_

"_Why's that, dear friend?"_

"_Yes, tell us Vaughn-san, on why should you want to be free from politics?"_

"_I want to explore on what life is and wonder if you unbalance the difference between Yin and Yang, Light and Darkness."_

_Ashura just laughed off Vaughn's idea on unbalance ideology. "That's just fairy tales, which you can't make in reality, right Hojo?"_

_Hojo just said nothing about it, although his expression has turned from neutral to uneasiness._

Then the scene changed again as it set around a few months later, where Hojo and Lucrecia were living, except he was in the blacksmith in a separate room, doing some final corrections on the new sword.

"_Are you going to rest, Hojo?" Lucrecia asked behind his back as he was blowing the furnace to the right temperature, while she was holding their newborn baby._

"_Not yet, I devise a new weapon that serves as a key to one of Project Triplet MAs, as well as a great offensive long katana that one day, Sephiroth could only be its wielder. Or maybe to Ashura's new Project Saviour."_

"_So, do you have a name for this weapon, dear?"_

"_Hmm, haven't thought about that. Maybe I should name this sword after a famous ancient swordsmith from Japan, Shiranui perhaps?"_

"_Nah, how about Masamune?"_

"_Hmm, that sounds great for a sword like this."_

_One week later at Hojo and Lucrecia's residence and 'Vaughn' and Ashura came to visit on his new weapons and gadgets in the upcoming weeks to the new projects they are announcing._

"_So this Kusanagi is for Ashura's new project," 'Vaughn' explained to refresh his memory as he inspected the wonderful decorated sword "And this, Masamune is for…"_

"_Please don't touch Masamune by the blade." Hojo replied with some concern._

"_Why should I not touch the blade of Masamune?"_

"_You can touch the handle of Masamune, but not the blade. The reason I'm telling you this is that should anyone the blade, they will only hurt themselves physically, and so only my son and myself can handle it."_

"_Your son? But he's just a young baby. He can't possibly be handling this colossal blade!"_

"_True, but I have a feeling that one day, he is the only person who can handle on piloting one of the three specially built MAs as a key. When he grows up into a mature gentleman."_

"_Okay, then. Ashura, you have a special project, codenamed 'Divine Angel', could you tell me more about this project?"_

_Ashura shrugged his shoulders off as he was sipping another cup of barley tea. And his lilac eyes were staring at the white-haired person._

"_Special project? Why, yes of course. Should I tell you about it? No, I'm very sorry. I just don't to ruin the surprise for you, now do I?"_

"_Heh. You do like to keep your secrets a lot."_

"That's the origin of Masamune?" Sephiroth asked to Hojo with many things that left undiscovered. "You made not only Masamune, you also the person who made Kusanagi?"

Hojo replied with a weak smile in his face "Yes, not only Ashura and I were scientists working for codename 'Divine Angel' that led to Archangel Michael, but I was also raise as a sword-making apprentice from your grandfather as hobby and work put together. Kusanagi and Masamune were like the children of my own, but only the first blade belonged to 'him'." The scenery changed to a lab, where Ashura and Hojo were dressed smartly with their white lab coats as they were looking at the supposed 'Divine Angel' in development around two weeks later.

"_So is this 'Divine Angel' you're talking about Ashura?" Hojo asked with curiosity._

"_Yeah and the reason why you're my only close friend is that I'm getting suspicious to Vaughn around his hands on getting on my next project and…hey, your special recipe is coming up!"_

"_Really?" And then, a robotic arm was carrying a special red liquid was coming up to the bioroid's arm, ready for injection. "Ah, you mean that?"_

"_Yes, this is my best recipe for creating on what you might called as a superweapon."_

"_Superweapon?"_

"_Yes, after many structures of the samples failed to match your robot, I finally found this that not only triples the strength from a normal human, but has the greatest defence, evasion and intelligence that only someone could outmatch mine and…is a special key that is enable to lock everything inside and out to Paradise Eden. This is…Noir Key."_

_Ashura whistled at the point of the special liquid Hojo had made. "Wow. That is one special recipe you made there. Will it be effective on Archangel Michael?"_

"_Archangel Michael?"_

"_Yeah, you named Masamune and Kusanagi after Japanese folklore or something, so I named my creation from 'Divine Angel' to Archangel Michael after a saint from some Christian mythology or something."_

"_Ah, I see. However, there are some technical problems when it comes to the structure, like this."_

"_Huh, what are you talking about?" Suddenly, black wings began to emerge behind the bioroid's back and some strands of silver hair appeared from behind Archangel Michael's head. "You mean that?"_

"_Yes. Turns out that if I expose to bioroid's body DNA, their structure will be slightly altered by thirty five percent. But if I expose to a normal human being like myself, then the transformation would slowly increase to a hundred percent for around three years or so and then their DNA structure would greatly be altered. Such as the ability to heal itself that depends how much feathers are shedding in either seconds or a week. Or something, I haven't tested on humans."_

"_So, how many doses are there in this experiment?"_

"_Only four so far. One for Archangel Michael, one for the fusion to Kusanagi so that your creation can safely store in its body without such heavy burden and the other two…I just don't know what to do with those two."_

"Now you know the origin on the making process of the Noir Key liquid…" Hojo explained as he was cleaning his glasses.

"But that still doesn't mean about the origins of the other two artefacts and its connection to Archangel Michael." Sephiroth clearly explained to his father.

"Ah, I was about to tell you that. Unfortunately, Ashura was such a bad liar when it comes to mythology. I mean, only one would function as a key to unlock the path to Paradise or Lost Eden as you called it – and that is Kusanagi." And then the scene changed about only this time the setting took place a month inside a fancy restaurant before the crisis in Paradise Eden began.

"_Lucrecia, there is something I want to give to you."_

"_What is it, dear?" He showed them two valuable items that cannot be reproduced. A lovely decorated pocket watch and a small ruby gem in shape of a small tear. "They look so lovely."_

"_Yes, I designed them myself when traditional craftsmanship was my past time, since teenage years. However, these presents have some symbolic meanings to it. Remember the story about the three mythological treasures of ancient Japan?"_

"_Oh yes. Do you mean the legendary sword Kusanagi, the Holy Magatama of Yasanaki and the Yata Mirror?"_

"_Yes, except my version of them have some use. Kusanagi, is basically a weapon most suited to Ashura's project, due to the liquid I transfused to the blade; that pocket watch is like the Yata Mirror, except the mirror behind the picture emits a strong light of waves when someone you loved dearly is in danger and the Holy Magatama is a good luck charm where you need the most or avoid certain death. _

_Although I know I am going to place the Magatama into Masamune, I'd just don't know of where to place it: Hidden or exposure?"_

"_I don't know, but I'll let you decide for yourself."_

"Wait, you've been telling to me that out of the three legendary treasures, only Kusanagi can unlock the path to Paradise Eden?" Sephiroth asked angrily to Hojo as if the secret was been a lie all along. "And that the Yata Mirror and the Holy Magatama of Yasanaki were just mementoes?"

"I'm sorry if I offended you, dear." Hojo replied very sombrely as he cleaned his glasses "However, that was the only way that would save you and your mother from this heavy burden your birthplace had put."

"Then, tell me! Why did you make my life more miserable? If you haven't put that liquid into me for so long time ago, I would have lived a normal life!" Then before he was about to unsheathed Masamune, the One Winged Angel noticed Aerith's hand was touching his right arm beside him as she took out the pocket watch, now the Yata Mirror revealed.

"Sephiroth, please don't blame your father." She cried a little "If he hadn't any choice for a way to save you, then I'm sure that your life would have been worse than this."

"…" Then, he let go of position to unsheathe his weapon and remained calm.

"As I was saying," Hojo continue to speak his lecture "Paradise Eden's peace and tranquillity was tragically at an end when the crisis, known as Dark Awakening, began to emerge."

And then suddenly, the world became black and a scene began to emerge of the views of Paradise Eden's skies began to turn dark crimson.

* * *

_Author's Notes: Muhwahahahahaha! Another 'Evil Cliffhanger of Doom' comes in and I'm free from exams just to add for another excitement (Yay! Goodbye A2 chemistry! Goodbye Pikey! Oops! Shouldn't have said that!)! _

_The most interesting thing about this chapter is that this was supposed to have a short history of Paradise Eden, a.k.a Lost Eden to Sephiroth and company, but then I got carried away and ended up doing a two part bits again, like that nail-biting climax when the other Sephiroth was about to kill Aerith in Journey Four – Reflections. So, if you want to know what really happened as to why Paradise became Lost, you'll have to give some money, now (I'm joking, okay? I don't need money anyway)! Besides, this is one of the two presents I'm giving you fans as compensation for the lack of submitting another chapter, while I was away doing some exam business._

_And now, big thanks to Lily Silver, Foi, Tish, turtlerad17 and many AeriSeph fans! Without you, I am going to leave you people very confused by the time Journey Seventeen is finished. Any reviews are welcome, but you know the rule: NO FLAMERS! And now, here comes, Nimbus Detour! And for Lily Silver, you'll going to like the present, but should you not be much of a fan of this pairing I should be mentioning later, please don't read Bypass Three below.

* * *

_

**_Nimbus Detour – Bypass Three – Gig_**

_Eleventh Heaven Bar, Serapha, Second Eden_

"Kadaj!" Tifa shouted to the young man, as he about to put on his apron over his casual clothes as his evening job was obviously a barman.

"Yes, miss?" he asked with a slightly nervous expression.

"I'm going to take some stock from the back, so mind this place while I'm gone, okay?"

"Okay, miss."

"And for Eden's sake, don't call me 'miss'! It's too formal for me!"

"Erm, okay Tifa!" And she left to the back door, leaving young Kadaj doing the whole business in his responsibilities.

And after a few minutes in, a special guest walked in from the entrance carrying his guitar on his back when…

"Loz, what the heck are you doing here?" Kadaj surprisingly asked to his oldest brother as Loz was trying to find the owner of the Eleventh Heaven Bar.

"Well, after earning some money by helping Kei in his bookshop, I might as well get some more by using my music charm!" Loz profoundly shouted as his pose with his guitar punched one of the drunkards.

"Hey, watch it!" One of them shouted as he held his bloody nose.

"Oops! Sorry!"

"Uh, I think the manager, Tifa, is busy getting the drinks behind the back, so you might as well wait." Kadaj firmly remarked.

"Okay, then. I might as well get a drink, until Tifa gets back."

* * *

A few minutes in later and the bar is packed full of university students trying to bet each other on who could drink the best; young adults finally relaxed from their jobs and a stag party. However, there is a surprise or rather, shocking in store for Kadaj… 

"Hey mate!" Rufus shouted as he was feeling a little tipsy "Give me some for two pretty boys, lone bloke and hic, lassie!"

"Okay…argh!" Kadaj screamed as he saw his familiar 'terrorist' and hid beneath the bar.

"Hey, what's wrong with your brother brat, Yazzy?"

"I really don't know about it." Yazoo replied as he drank another sip of water "He's been like this over two years ago, since he was traumatised by a blonde person."

Rufus froze for a second, and then drank some more beer to keep it a secret. "Oh yeah, hic! When I get my hands on that guy, I'll avenge your younger brother, hic!"

"Oh, come on Leon!" Yuffie complained as she tried to steal Leon's bottle of beer "Why can't I have one?"

"You're too young to drink, Yuffie baby, hic!" Leon replied, rather in a drunk manner. "You ninjas need to focus on killing, hic, on your target, hic, and it's no…"

* * *

Meanwhile, on the other side of the bar… 

"OH, come on Sephy, baby!" Aerith remarked in a really unusual drunk manner, as she tried to 'attack' Sephiroth by forcing him to drink a bottle of sake "This is really good for yer…"

"Uh, haven't you had enough Aerith?" Sephiroth asked cautiously as he tried to avoid getting drunk.

"You wuss! You may be a strong person, but you need to drink like a person!" And then she gave him a bottle of sake, to which he had no choice, but to accept her 'gift'.

"All right, but just this once! I am a bit of lightweight when it comes to alcohol."

Thirty minutes of drinking later, Sephiroth was reduced to the One Winged Drunkard.

"…Oh it's great to have one wing on my back, but why can't I have two wings!" Sephiroth unusually rambled a lot, since he was now in a drunken state "Oh, sure I'm proud to have a nickname on the One Winged Angel, but why can't I have two extra wings on my sides and be the Three Winged Angel!"

"'Cause One Winged Angel sounded a lot better than Three Winged!" Bach shouted from nowhere as he was now heavily influence by alcohol. And then a few seconds later, he was punched by Sephiroth himself.

"What did, hic, you, hic, called me?"

"Hey, hey! Sephiroth!" Leon shouted as he was walking very jaggedly in front of him "That's no way to…" sadly, he too, was being punched by the One Winged Angel himself and after that accidentally kicked Loz's beloved guitar, while Loz was performing on stage doing many of his written songs.

And soon, a riot had predicted.

* * *

_The next day_

Outside the bar, Yazoo was waiting very patiently and more worried what happened last night, when Tifa came towards him.

"Ah, hello Tifa." He greeted in an unusual worrisome manner.

"Where the heck have you been Yazoo?" She asked rather angrily to him "I've been sending way too many text messages and here you are, presenting an announcement we're splitting again!"

"My mobile phone's off and I'm not splitting with you! How could I do that to you, since our relationship's strong for three years?"

"Sigh. Well, you'd better tell me what the hell happened last night in my Bar, while I gave Loz the go-ahead to perform and left Kadaj in charge."

"Well, you see…" Unfortunately for Yazoo, before he could finish his sentence to his girlfriend, Tifa; the owner of Eleventh Heaven Bar decided to open the door. "…wait! Don't open…" Too late as she screamed in horror "…the door."

"WHO IN THE RIGHT MIND, DECIDED TO RANSACK MY BELOVED BAR TO A SCRAPHEAP?"

"Uh, let's just say it a certain person, who Kadaj was unable to stop him, was too drunk to remember."

_Sephiroth, why? _Yazoo thought in secret as he could imagine a big sweatdrop producing from behind his back.

* * *

_Quick note: Yes, Sephiroth was really out of character when he drank too much, but what he said was actually a pun on his appearance in Kingdom Hearts II. Bet you didn't notice that, eh? And yes, the last section is very much light on the Yazoo x Tifa pairing bit. But please, don't kill me, the people who doesn't like this pairing!_


	18. Journey Seventeen: Lost Eden

_**Journey Seventeen – Lost Eden**_

'_WARNING! WARNING! THE EXPERIMENTAL MA, JENOVA, HAS BEEN RELEASED!'_

_Many scientists and military staff were bemused about the MA Jenova being released without warning, but for Ashura and Hojo, that meant dilemma. They ran to the core of the trouble, until they were struck by Jenova's missiles. Luckily for them, a swordsman from nowhere appeared managed to protect them both using his famed katana, Muerio, and split the missiles into half._

"_Ryoujin!" Hojo mystifyingly shouted to the military general swordsman as he turned to face them "What are you doing here? I thought you were taking a break from defence!"_

"_Defence?" Ryoujin replied sarcastically "Paradise Eden is swarming with many people turning into weird black monsters, while my younger brother and Ashura are in the building, unaware of the dangers it now faces."_

"_What? You mean the Black Heart Virus has been released without noticed? That's highly impossible! I've told the staff to store it in the most upkeep secret only known to a few."_

"_Really? Then I supposed who would do such a thing? Luckily, I saved your wife and child in the same building as you are in and managed to evacuate the citizens to outer space from Paradise Eden…"_

"_That won't work, Ryoujin. Evacuating the citizens to outer space would cause worse troubles than I have thought." And before Hojo could finish the explanation, there were more 'black creatures' coming to the same position the 'group' were in._

"_Dammit! No time for explanations! Hojo, Ashura! You go on ahead, while I provide for your rendezvous!"_

"_Ryoujin…"_

"_Now get the hell out of here!"_

_Hojo had no choice – he and Ashura should run to the core of the trouble and they sprinted away, while Ryoujin slashed many 'black creatures' should either of them were close to his Muerio's blade._

"I have an uncle?" Sephiroth was very confused about his long lost relative "Then what happened to him?"

"I simply do not know what happened to him, as the truth now unfolds." Hojo explained in an inexplicable manner as another scene was shown, only this time it was here that cause the moment to happen.

* * *

_Hojo and Ashura stopped to find out that something unexpected happened._

"_It can't be…" Ashura faintly remarked "I thought you were going away on a business trip."_

"_What are you doing with my wife, my child and…your brother Vaughn, Ansem?" Hojo cried angrily as he saw Ansem pointing his gun at Vaughn, who was handcuffed to the back and Lucrecia, carrying and protecting their young child._

"_Glad you could make it, Hojo." Ansem just slyly replied as he pointed the gun at his wife, who held their baby as long as she could – frightened, but not completely stiff. And then he took out the four test tubes, only two were the same colour and the other two were different colours. "Recognise these, professor?"_

"_How did you get the Noir Key, Blanc Key and Glace Key?" Hojo was heatedly surprised about how Ansem ever got the test tubes._

"_Oh, those?"_

"_Hojo, take your wife and child and run!" Vaughn shouted as he tried to push his brother, but to no avail as he was at gunpoint as the result._

"_You don't want to meet up dead, now do we older brother? Now, as I was saying, before my dear brother was interrupting the scene, I was tired being a businessman away in some foreign country and my dear old Vaughn didn't invite me to his party a year ago. And then some time later, Vaughn came back to my place talking about the balance and that secret project you were taking. Unfortunately, he merely joked about the unbalance as just a fairy tale that is impossible for a human to change it. And then, I thought, maybe I should be the one to change it and so, I began taking him as hostage and led him right to the Lions' Den, activating that virus that drives people's hearts mad; did a little talk with Jenova and set her freedom from her 'prison' to wreak some havoc in Paradise Eden and guess what I found? Not only those experimental liquids I've just taken in as my gifts, but also I added extra hostages to your wife and child, Hojo."_

"_So, what are you planning to do with those liquids, even though you never inserted one of them, let alone all of them? And what about my wife and child?" Hojo tried to conceal his anger when asking to Ansem, but it was no use._

"_Hmm, for the liquids, I am planning to sell them for at least a million Gil. But as for your lineage, Hojo…"he pointed the gun at Lucrecia and the child, to which the baby is now crying "…say at least sayonara to that and it's all over soon."_

_He was about to pull the trigger, when suddenly out of the blue, a figure appeared from nowhere as he slashed his gun hand and then punched Ansem on to his left cheek, leaving him into unconscious thoughts, although the bullet he shot at, went straight directly to Hojo's torso._

"_Archangel Michael!" Ashura shouted as he freed Vaughn's hands and taking the liquids, while Hojo ran limply, holding his stomach as long as he can endure and hugged his wife in reunion. However, the relief they have been given turned unexpected as the Archangel Michael began to malfunction as he dropped Kusanagi on to the floor and collapsed right in front of them. Ashura could not believe that his project had collapsed right in front of them and had no choice, but to lift him his back and cried. "That can't be…why my creation…came to our rescue…yet, even though he was still incomplete."_

"…_Jenova…" Archangel Michael's voice faintly whispered to everyone, even though his mouth was not lifting a sound "…she's watching you very carefully…and…and…she's behind you…waiting for her moment to strike…I've only have limited amount of smoke gas to divert her for a short time…but it is our only chance."_

"_I see."_

"_Then, what are we waiting for?" Vaughn shouted, until he saw Hojo, hobbling slowly to Ashura's lab coat and getting the two Noir Key liquids "Hojo, what the hell are you doing? This isn't the time for vaccinating!"_

_Hojo did not have the time to answer as he inserted the liquid into the syringe and then injected himself with pain included._

"_There…isn't much time…" Hojo coughed strongly as his voice was very pale and yet strong enough for everyone to hear "…but you have to trust me. Everyone, follow me…there is one thing I would like to show you, that even Ashura wasn't aware of."_

"Ansem was here as well?" Leon, Yuffie and Aerith asked in unison with both confusion and surprise in their tones and then Aerith spoke afterwards "How did he enter the scenes? I mean the last time I saw him was when Leon, Yuffie and I were just kids and he didn't seem to remember about everything in Paradise Eden!"

"I don't know what happened in the aftermath of Ansem's demise, or what solution Ashura put into Ansem's body," Even Hojo was surprised that Ansem came to their world for some unknown reason as his tone was unusually a mixture of calm and perplexing "but the content must have been very effective to remove Ansem's current memories permanently."

And soon, another scene shifted to the corridor that led into the surprising room and the stairs that soon led to the same room.

"_You built the TARDIS all by yourself?" Vaughn merely joked to Hojo, to which he can only reply with a faint laugh, while coughing at the same time._

"_Not exactly. This is my other creation, where I research about time manipulation when I have the time. Soon enough, I developed this, a machine that can send people, only to the future."_

"_Wait, why not the past?"_

"_I don't know how to incorporate the past and future, so I only did the future. And it seems, this is the only way to get you escape on a one-way ticket ride."_

_A few minutes in later and they were near the location, but Hojo could not take the strain he endured and knew his time had come to an end. He walked in a wobbled fashion as he came to Lucrecia, his only child and the Archangel Michael. With his knelt position he made the most surprising moment – injecting the Noir Key onto his own son's arm!_

"_Forgive me my son, but you must not let anyone take that key I'm giving to you. Lucrecia, this is your only chance to flee from this place, get to the secret basement and activate the machine."_

"_But, wouldn't that leave you and take me and him to the future?"_

"_Yes, but at least I can save the world and not let anyone dared to put their foot in. Now go! There's no time for it." And he coughed up blood from his mouth and saw the last time he saw his family. However, he also made another surprising moment as he pressed the button that had activated the smoke screen gas, used his every strength to pick up Kusanagi and threw it straight at his son's back, absorbing into his body without inflicting pain and his wife noticed as they ran downstairs to the room._

"_Hojo…" Ashura anxiously whispered as he took the Glace Key and carried the now unconscious Ansem onto his back, while Vaughn picked up the Blanc Key with his expression turning sombre to Hojo._

"_Ashura, Vaughn; don't worry about me…" he coughed as his voice was now more faintly than it was, though he smiled with his scattered strength "I've enough strength to follow you later on. Make sure you…protect these Keys…they're the only ones I made them unique…how you would use them doesn't matter to me…now go, I'll track onto you later on…and Ashura?"_

"_Yes…"_

"_What are you going to do with Ansem?"_

"_Don't worry about it, Hojo. I've come up with a formula that would even permanently erase Ansem's current memories in Paradise Eden."_

"_Okay, but once I've get to the future; I'll find Lucrecia and tell her that you'll be here!" With Ashura's final smile to Hojo, he and Vaughn knew Hojo would not survive to arrive at the location, but despite that, they had hope that one day, they would meet again one day. They turned their backs and ran downstairs as fast as they could, before the smoke screen was dying._

"_Though my body would not carried on to meet them, maybe if my soul could dive into the Archangel Michael's body and…"_

Unfortunately, the scene finished seeing that Hojo's memories have soon been done only through him and the company were whisked to the garden, where Sephiroth and Jehovah first met each other.

"What happened to you?" Yuffie asked cheerfully, but also in a baffled manner "Did you entered into that robot's body?"

"Frankly I did," Hojo replied while he was cleaning his glasses "but unfortunately that's where I black out at one minute and the next moment, where I 'opened' my eyes that I was in some lab with people checking on the Archangel Michael's body. I tried to move his arms around, but because my soul was transfer to his body, I couldn't do it. All I could do was to watch through his eyes, while they changed his body. And then, I found out the realization as to why I can't control the Archangel Michael… his memory data has been replaced with a new memory data and couldn't recognise me. Hence, his body was full of very advanced technology and that name…YESHUA."

"No way! You mean the robot boy we just saw was actually the Archangel Michael and not some kind of superhero legend?"

"Yes, I'm afraid. I don't understand as to why no one had actually noticed this YESHUA had completely over taken the Archangel Michael's body or why Paradise became Lost over a thousand years later. However, if you want to the complete truth about this, first you should contact the person who changed the Archangel Michael's body. And Sephiroth…"

"Now what is it?" the silver-haired man asked, though he could not spit the word 'father' to Hojo.

"Please don't hate me on that burden I've made to you. I know you'll hate me for that, but I'm glad you've grown up to such a fine gentleman and lived in a normal life for a while."

"…" it was hard for Sephiroth to accept this and Hojo knew his only son that the statement was too early to accept that he was talking to him as father and son.

"And if you were asking me of the whereabouts of Masamune before you actually got it at such a young age, I knew I was carrying it around, even if I didn't noticed at that time."

* * *

_Back to reality_

"Yay!" Yuffie shouted as she removed the red-tinted glasses "I'm back at the real world!"

"Yuffie, will you please shut the hell up?" Leon frustratingly asked to Yuffie when the group exited the room, leaving the stationary lifeless YESHUA there and entered into the room, where Yazoo and Eliza were in and put away the red-tinted glasses.

"So, how was your trip to virtual reality, Sephiroth?" The Afro-Edian engineer asked politely with a gentle smile.

"…" Sephiroth, however, replied with a silence and neutral expression as he was in no mood to talk to anyone and left the room.

"Uh, I don't think Sephiroth wants to talk to anyone Eliza." Aerith desolately replied to her in behalf for the One Winged Angel.

"Huh, what happened to him? Did he change so suddenly completely?"

"…Let's just say, he was reunited with someone special and never realises he never got the chance to see him, until now."

"…I see…so, could you tell me what you did with Sephiroth and the others when you're inside YESHUA's memory?"

"Well…"

Aerith explained everything to Eliza about the truth – how myth revealed as actually lost history that the planet, Paradise Eden became Lost Eden for over a thousand years, the truth about the Archangel Michael, the three artefacts. In fact everything that the young brunette told her everything she can remember, though she never mentioned Sephiroth's father as she thought that would spread like wildfire on gossips and such.

"…You mean YESHUA is actually the Archangel Michael? That's impossible! The first time I came to contact with him, was when I first got recruited by my director."

"Then maybe, we should go to him and get things clearer."

"But there's one problem…"

"What?"

"My director is completely obsessed with YESHUA and won't talk to anyone when it comes to YESHUA's secrets. Even Yazoo and I weren't able to talk about how he got him in the first place."

"Oh dear…then must be the way to talk to him."

* * *

_The next day, Reeve's office_

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come in! I have plenty of free time!" Reeve shouted as he was still fixing the part of Cait Sith. The door opened and Yazoo and Eliza came in, along with unexpectedly, Aerith and Sephiroth, who was still silent around yesterday's incidents. "Well, you've brought guests Eliza. I assumed they're from Dratis Iris, is that correct?"

"Yes, sir." Eliza replied "But, the reason they're here with here is this – why YESHUA was not completely bespoke, but as a different cyborg being replaced?"

Then Reeve stopped everything and silence entered in. He knew that the secret has been spilt. "I guess you found out, eh?" He sighed as he stood up and pressed the button that closed the blinds. "Yazoo, could you please close the door behind you?"

"Yes, sir." And he did and Reeve did not know where to start the explanation to Aerith, Sephiroth and now Eliza and Yazoo, his rookies.

"There was one thing that I didn't mention to you – I don't even know how to explain. Well, here goes nothing…

"The YESHUA you see here is actually that robot I found couple of years ago, where you people was barely born. I was the head of Yeager's Enterprises Financial Department, where I already have a promotion. Then sometime later, I accidentally got lost in the streets of Serapha, where I saw this stranger and that robot, which was in tatters. I couldn't leave them here, let alone seeing them as strangers, so I took them to my place and have that person recovered. However, the day, that person got up despite with his injuries and asks me that I should mend the robot. I never saw him again as soon as he left my place and I didn't know what to do with the robot. Should I mend the robot like he told me to do or…

"I've asked Yeager that I should resign the job and work as a director to this new project I have been devising to 'mend' this robot, who was originally called 'Archangel Michael', given that person told me that robot's name, before he took off so suddenly."

"Did you know the name of this person?" Aerith asked with some curious tones in mind.

"Sadly not at all, I'm afraid and it's been a while since I've seen him for a while in over a couple of years, so I have the faintest idea of his appearance. Anyway, Yeager Senior gave the go ahead and soon Project Y had begun. However, instead of mending 'Archangel Michael', with many past staff members I have hand selected, I disposed of the components that were deemed irrelevant with today's world and replaced with Yeager's best technology around and re-christened as YESHUA. Many years later and with members replacing after some time, you came around Eliza when you're just a graduate a few years back along with your friend Andrew and more recently Yazoo. Now it seems we're right back to the start." He sighed with irony that he finished his part of the story to the group and silence have entered the building.

"So, you were the only person who knew that YESHUA is actually the 'Archangel Michael' and no one else, is that correct?" Sephiroth finally spoke with a neutral tone.

"Yes, assuming that these words are only my evidence to you, so what are you planning to do with this?"

Sephiroth opened the door, while Reeve asked him a question and he turned around for a reply: "I would use your words to understand more of what is going on with the situation you and I are in and hopefully…try and dismantle the XIII Order from getting hands on Lost Eden." He soon left the room, to which was followed by Aerith and Yazoo, but Eliza was standing there feeling so lost with new information that she never knew.

"I'm sorry I haven't told you this before Eliza."

"Why, why haven't you told me, let alone Andrew and the rest of the crew?" She exclaimed in anger as her eyes were flowing with tears.

"If I told you a few years back, then the plan would arise to problems and I would force to halt Project Y. So, what more could you ask for?"

* * *

_Somewhere dark_

"So, your brother Hojo had managed to fend off those XIII Order fools, is that correct, Ryoujin?" 'Master' asked in a calm manner.

"It would seem so, considering his soul is still functioning inside that YESHUA." The blue masked person replied rather quickly and tranquilly.

"However," Bellima soon spoke seconds after his reply "I've heard that your nephew, Sephiroth, has yet been aware that you're not been missing the whole time. Is that really true?"

"…Yes. But to that context, I do not wish to meet him, just yet. Unlike Lawrence, who has apparently exposed himself to the members of the XIII Order and the few people, not to mention my brother's friend, Ashura; is it not?"

"Hey, don't blame me!" Lawrence smirked as he shrugged "Ashura was the only person who has the amazing ability with those wonder drugs!"

"And then, there are the things that Hojo didn't mention. I wonder what happened to them…"

"You've got to ask Ashura for that!" Astaroth sarcastically replied as he brushed his golden hair back "He's Hojo's closest friend, before the accident happened!"

"…"

* * *

_Several hours later in the meeting room, Vatican_

"…and that's all we could find on this piece information." Sephiroth formally explained to everyone, apart from YESHUA, before he sat down.

"By they way, what ever happened to YESHUA?" Bach finally asked, after he somehow noticeably disappeared for some time.

"Are you picking that question up, again?" Adrian asked with a heavy sigh.

"YESHUA is currently resting in his cryobed somewhere in this Vatican, as I've been told."

"But why on Genso are you taking with him? He still needs some more maintenance, before he can actually be free!"

"Bach, aren't you the one, who is a technophobic person and yet still carries a guitar full of advanced technology?"

"Anyway, I need YESHUA for special reasons on talking to Ashura Zhan and hence, why we are going to his home for last fifteen times! Is that all right for you now, Yuffie?" Sephiroth asked angrily to Yuffie when se kept asking where the hell they are heading to.

"Okay! Okay! I get it now!" The young ninja exclaimed as she knew that if she pissed the One Winged Angel too much, she is going to meet her demise.

"So how long are we going to get to Ashura's home?" Yazoo asked politely, who was unlike the young kunoichi.

"Around several hours I believe."

* * *

_Recreational Room_

"Sephiroth, are you here?" Aerith's voice asked, as she came into the room and sat down next to him.

"…" That was his reply as he looked to the black blanket of stars. For Aerith, she could not help but to smile in order to cheer him up.

"…It must be really hard for you."

"…"

"I know. I don't really know what to say when you met your father for a very long time. It…must have been…a long time…seeing him for a long time."

"…"

"I'm sorry; if I ever bothered you…maybe I should you alone and…" She then noticed as she was about to stand up and turned around, his hand was on her arm.

"Please, don't leave me alone…I need some…company." She nodded and sat down again.

"So, what's on your mind?"

"…Ever since when I was just a kid, I never knew where I was actually born, because my mother was so protective when I asked her about my birthplace. I never asked her about my father's whereabouts, until she disappeared and so many years later…I found him, inside that robot who is actually 'Archangel Michael' for the whole time…I'd just feel so confused and angry…."

"I know how you feel…"

"Another thing that crops to me…are that I wasn't born somewhere like yours…but in the past. I…" And without warning, he hugged in front of her and for the first time since his childhood, he cried; tears flowing from his pale face. "…I…know now that I'm not alone anymore…"

"Yes, you're not alone. You've got me, Yuffie, Leon, Bach, Adrian, Eliza…in fact everyone is here with you. I don't know how many more are going to support your cause, but there's one special thing…I'm always at your side, so…you're not alone." And something unexpected happened to Aerith – Sephiroth kissed on her lips!

_What the? That's not right! I'm mean…this is unexpected right…_

Sephiroth held his face back and felt a little uncomfortable about that kiss as his face was a little blushed. "…Uh, I'm…so…sorry about that!"

"Don't worry about that kiss! I've had worse when my first kiss went terribly wrong…I ended up kissing to a moogle once when I was only a kid."

"Oh…I see." Sephiroth tried to hide his snickering upon his response and then regained his composure.

"So, what are you going to do when you are going to confront Ashura?"

"I'm going to make him talk about everything that I found out from my father and explain more in detail."

* * *

_Ashura's Office, inside his manor in Third Saccharine_

Ashura heard footsteps as he looked out to the window, gazing at the beautiful scenery.

"So, you knew about the cover-up on Lost Eden." He calmly remarked as he was still looking at the windowpane.

"Tell me, why were you involved with my father over a thousand years ago?" Sephiroth's voice asked with some concern.

"I knew you say that." He turned to face his friend's son and his 'acquaintance' "Your father and I were very good friends since high school, along with Vaughn. And ever since Paradise Eden was such at the peak of peace, we were fools of playing God's beautiful creation and as a result, Ansem opened Pandora's Box and Hell let loose."

"Then, there are the three Keys – The Noir Key, to which my father have spoken, the Blanc Key to which a person named Vaughn has got it and that Glace Key – i.e. you. What are they?"

"I knew you would say that. The Three Keys are actually the ones that can only unlock the path to Lost Eden as it is now called. The Noir Key, as you may well know, enhances the person's offence, defence, speed and intelligence, but with notable differences, such as black wing or wings appearing from back and silver hair covering every strand. However, since your father hasn't got enough information about the other two, let me fill you in. The Blanc Key is pretty much like the Noir Key, except it's the exact opposite in terms of appearance and the Glace Key is more of an experimental liquid…it lets the person who is being injected have offence, defence and normal personality in three separate entities."

"Wait a minute," Aerith came in seconds after Ashura's explanation "You mean those three personalities you have are not some kind of diagnosis, but the Glace Key's effect?"

"Good, now you come into there. Fearing that one day Ansem would regain his memories after that solution I made, I personally injected the Glace Key onto myself so that he may never know where the exact location is. However, that Glace Key gave me the effect of having my appearance ageless by the time I inserted to myself and I have to control my personalities for a bit, until I got used to it."

"Ah, I can see why you look so young back then. But what about those boys you have?"

"You mean Ran and Mardo? They were orphans back then they were just toddlers and I took them as my children. I wonder if Hojo could see me now, after I regretted myself for not rescuing him and my creation – Archangel Michael."

"Actually, he's here, only his soul is inside YESHUA's body, which he is actually Archangel Michael with all those technology inside of him. And then, there's another issue to me – why is my father is involved with you, I mean, you never told him the whole truth about Paradise Eden."

Ashura was shocked Aerith asked him two questions that were her concerns. "That's impossible…I thought Archangel Michael…my creation was gone…and Hojo…dead for over a thousand years…"

"Then this would overcome your doubts…"Sephiroth smirked as he stepped out of the way to show YESHUA walking in front of the many-swords-swordsman and yet, he was actually the lost bioroid he had created. And Hojo's soul inside YESHUA's body? That was incredibly impossible, even Hojo would know that! "Eliza and Yazoo were kind enough to modify his…er, whatever inside of him and Hojo should be read to speak as soon as he regain control of YESHUA's components."

A few minutes in and nothing happened….then the moment came; a similar voice to Ashura. "Good to see you, Ashura Zhan, or should I say…Ashura Cheng."

"It can't be…Hojo? I thought you were perished, along with Ryoujin and the rest in Paradise Eden over a thousand years ago!"

"Yes, I was perishing, but my body was only to expire, not my soul. And unfortunately, I was black out to the events in the aftermath until now."

And before Ashura could say another word to his lost friend, a klaxon was heard and it was a voice of his bodyguards.

"ASHURA, WE HAVE TROUBLE COMING IN THE MANOR! EVERYONE, BUT RAN, YAZOO AND I WERE BEATEN UNCONSCIOUS BY THE XIII ORDER! YOU MUST FLEE THE MANOR, NOW!"

"What? How many members are currently present in here?"

"About four!"

* * *

_Author's Note: And that, my friends, is the end on the special chapters present and by god, that took me a while to round the history up and don't really ask me why Ryoujin is Sephiroth's uncle, I just made that up to go along with the fanfiction! And yes, that TARDIS joke was the reference from my favourite sci-fi show, Doctor Who. Hmm, strangely, I don't know why a Doctor Who reference was included in the FFVII category, but I might look up for those Doctor Who and FFVII crossover fanfictions soon. _

_And I hope these chapters will help your head free from the confusion I make during the story. Apparently, the original story before Nimbus Exploration became this was originally called Nimbus Journey and the storyline was similar to Journey One, except after that, Sephiroth, Aerith and Bach were on the floating island, comparable to Noodle's one from Gorillaz and exploring every world that contain different cultures everywhere. Oh dear, looks like my head went a little too far for that. And I was about to put many FFVII characters, as well as the Three Silver-Haired Men (Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz, if you are lost to the letters, SHM), Denzel and Marlene in most of the chapters! _

_And then, some more fanfiction ideas came into my head again, but this time, it set in Hollow Bastion or Radiant Garden for some reason (even though I haven't got that game again! Argh! Why do we wait for KH2 in September?), where Aerith and Sephiroth are pretty much separated to each other where Aerith goes out on a journey to her world to discover more with the two original characters I came up with and Sephiroth catches up to Aerith to bring some news to her party, only with Yuffie and Sora as his company and yet, these two are connected in many journeys around the world they live. Perhaps I should write that as a monthly basis or do that, after I end the finale chapter to Nimbus Exploration. So, what do you think, readers?_

_And big thanks to my usual readers and AeriSeph fans, Foi, Lily Silver, Tish, turtlerad17 and others. Many reviews are welcome, as long as it is not flamers. And now, here's an extra goodie present for you: Nimbus Detour! And for Disclaimer's note, I don't own many books, as they were own by its respective authors and Doctor Who for some reason, as you can read why.

* * *

_

_**Nimbus Detour – Bypass Four – Hardback**_

_Kinja Bookstore, Serapha, Second Eden_

Poor Loz. Not only last night's gig ended in failure for him, but also his beloved acoustic guitar was destroyed by this long silver-haired man who has a black wing on his back. And because of that, he had to earn all that money again by working in Kei's bookstore. Again, though his head was on the table, crying that he may never rise to the record contract.

"Oh, Loz, could you do me for a favour?" The male Afro-Edian asked politely as he was about to leave his bookstore "And please stop crying, you'll only going to damage the books further, especially the hardback edition of Watership Down!"

"Sorry, Kei!" He responded, as he dried his eyes and carefully placed his somewhat favourite book, Watership Down to the other side "So, what is it that you want?"

"Look after the shop, while I go to that auction place to stock some more rare books." And he left in a hurry.

Many seconds have gone and it seem that there were no customers, until Loz have heard this strange whirring noises coming from the outside and then, a young woman with short blonde hair dressed like some delinquent was accompanied by a young man with short messy brown hair wearing a brown pinstripe suit and those shoes that were not match to his.

"Um, Doctor, are you sure this is New Earth?" that young woman asked as she looked around the store "Hey, that's the book that my mum used to read me when I was a kid!"

"Rose, don't be so noisy!" The Doctor exclaimed, while Loz was literally lost for words upon, until he shook his head.

"Um, excuse me…" he started saying rather unshakably. "…but do you want something from this bookstore? I've got more not from the shelf, if you like."

"Nah, I'm just looking and…" he went closer rather disturbingly to the young silver-haired man "…is this New Earth?"

"Er…I have no idea what you are talking about, but this isn't New Earth; you're in Second Eden I'm afraid."

"What? Really?" The young man was ecstatic that this was not New Earth after all, but in a completely different planet "Then, I guess my coordinates must have been taken a wrong turn. Okay then, thanks for your help. Rose! We're going back to the TARDIS!"

"But I'm not finished picking which book to buy for!" Rose exclaimed as she had trouble selecting those books.

"Rose, either you'll leave the books and come with me or I'll leave YOU here for the rest of your life!"

"Okay! Okay! I'm going, sheesh!" And with few seconds of leaving the bookstore and Loz completely speechless later, that whirring noise came in again and Kadaj entered the store, feeling a little spaced with his emerald green eyes wide open.

"Hello Kadaj, dear young brother." Loz politely remarked.

"Hello, Loz," The young man rather answered quickly and shakily "Do you have any books that contain any stress-free tips on post-traumatising?"

"Huh? Why do you need that?"

"I can't shake that memory off two years ago, where that blonde haired man put a shotgun on my head and I thought I was going to die!" And then he cried.

"Hey! Hey! Don't cry, I've got this book to soothe you!" And Loz handed Kadaj the book that he will enjoy: The Hobbit.

"The Hobbit?" Kadaj stopped crying "Why the hell did you give me this?"

"Well, it helps me from most of the traumatic moments. Oh well, enjoy reading!"

"Uh, yeah…thanks, dear older brother." The young man can feel that a large sweatdrop producing behind his back.

* * *

_Several hours later_

"Hi, I'm back!" Kei's voice shouted as he entered into bookstore "So, Loz, got any books sale by any chance?"

"Oh, sure." Loz happily answered as he put down his favourite Watership Down novel onto the desk "And here are the customers who bought."

"Oh, really?" He handed the Afro-Edian man the list and what was on the list was either pretty amusing or pretty surprising:

_Kadaj: The Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkein_

_Sephiroth: How to Get A Perfect Girlfriend by S.M. Uto_

_Cloud Strife: How to Win Back Your Girlfriend by Toby Snatcher_

_Reno: Comedy Stand-Up for Dummies by I.M. Notlaughfen_

_Rude: The Edian Guardian's Best Guide to Theme Parks in T.S.S. by S. Reem-Alota_

_Elena: The Idiot's Guide on Successful Job Interviews by Mora Mony_

_Tseng: Romance of the Three Kingdoms in Latin – written by Guan Luazhong and translated by Harius Potterius_

_Scarlet: DK's Guide to Building Successful Machinery by Rodney Coppertop and B. Rakin-Alut_

_Since when did Sephiroth began to get a perfect girlfriend? _Kei thought puzzlingly as he lingered on further on the list _And strange, I didn't seem to own a book that instructs on how to win back. I wonder why?_

"And guess what I saw?"

"Yes, do go on Loz."

"I saw these two weirdoes asking me if this was New Earth; I said 'no' to them; that guy who was called the Doctor told this girl, named Rose or something, to go back to this TARDIS and they disappeared when they left the store in a whirring noise."

"What?" Kei was in such a funny position when Loz explained to him about everything "I thought this bit only occurs in science fiction."

"Yeah, I thought so, myself."

* * *

_Quick Note: Apologise for the bad book title puns and those author puns and yes, the Doctor is basically the current version of the New Doctor Who series, if you really must know, i.e. the David Tennant one._


	19. Journey Eighteen: Obumbrata

_**Journey Eighteen – Obumbrata**_

"Dammit!" Yazoo cursed himself as his gun targeted and shot to every unknown enemy the XIII Order have brought as unwelcome guests, while Ran, with his spear 'Paranoid' and Mardo with his katana 'Android', fought in the front lines – right inside the main hallway. "Can this be any worse than – Ran! Behind you!" And he reached his right hand, 'pointing' at the swordsman, and summoned his black beasts.

"Thanks Yazoo!" Ran complemented the silver-haired gunner, while he sped up to three more uninvited guests; shook his katana that dissolved them.

"I don't know how the hell did the XIII Order had breached the entrance!" Ran exclaimed as his 'Paranoid' had managed to eliminate five or so, should the 'guests' come too close on contact "But something isn't good! But speaking of which, what happened to Yuffie and Leon, right after we placed the injured ones somewhere safe, Yazoo?"

"I don't really know, but Yuffie, the last time I saw her, said she and Leon are heading to warn the others via the hallway."

* * *

_Meanwhile, at the hallway_

"Can't you go any faster, Leon?" Yuffie complained, seeing that Leon was running behind, thanks to his Gunblade, running like a true shinobi.

"Yuffie," The lone swordsman replied rather irritated "you know I can't run, like and I don't have the superpowers to…" Unfortunately, he was unable to finish his statement, as a wave of crashing water were hitting on them. Luckily for Yuffie, she managed to evade the attack, but left Leon soaking wet, literally wet.

"Oh, man! I only managed to wet one! That's no fun!" shouted a playful male voice as he emerged out of the portal, wearing a black trenchcoat, holding his unusual weapon – similar to Bach's electric guitar, except this was a sitar.

"YOU BASTARD!" Leon shouted angrily as he raised his Gunblade and was about to charge on the sitar player "YOU CALLED THAT 'FUN'?"

"Oh, hush, dear man! I am not a bastard, I am the Melodious Nocturne, Demyx. Another member of the XIII Order, I was about to give you my performance, but alas, my Master wants…" And before he could finished his poetic introduction, he could hear the sound of shuriken behind his back, but used his soundwaves from the sitar to deflect the oncoming weapon; causing Yuffie to bring back her shuriken and stand by Leon's side "…That wasn't very nice ruining my introduction!"

"Yeah, but if I hear your sitar playing in the concert hall, I wouldn't like your songs and not even going to buy that as well!" The kunoichi insulted the XIII Order member.

"What? How dare you insult my performance! I'll make sure you'll LISTEN to my song, after I'll get rid of you!"

"Hey, nice slur, Yuffie!" Leon smiled for the first time, as he got into offensive position.

"Why, you're welcome!" Yuffie replied merrily, as she got into position as well. "Now, let's get rid of him, before he plays his one-hit wonder!"

And then….they charged.

* * *

_On the other side, The Main Hall_

"Are you sure, you can handle Kusanagi, YESHUA?" Sephiroth asked with concern as he threw the second weapon to the cyborg.

"Professor Hojo told me I have small amounts of the Noir Key left in me, so I should be okay." He replied expressionlessly as he caught the sword.

"So how many uninvited guests did those fools bring in?" Ashura asked rather sinisterly as he got out his Ryong-Ming and Yue Xue.

"Uh….too many?" Aerith replied nervously as she peeped through the door and then closed it, fearing there are more.

"Well then…" He closed his lavender eyes and then magically opened his manic red pupils "…SHALL WE SAY HELLO TO THEM?"

Meanwhile, outside the office, 'the uninvited guests' were left wondering what was taking long, until the doors blew open and Ashura was speeding along madly, slashing every enemy hit, followed by Sephiroth who was hitting along the way.

"YOU FOOLS! CAN'T YOU DEFEAT ASHURA!" The M.P.D swordsman laughed manically.

Then Aerith ran behind the One Winged Angel, while she shoved more enemies out of the way and when things got pretty nasty in the front line, she scuttled to Sephiroth's back, jumped off and flipped in the air.

"Time to bring out the secret technique." She smiled as she twists Princess Guard and the chain was extended from the top and hit the monsters, while on the rear, YESHUA did his best to avoid from being attacked by hitting every slash, imbued with his robotic skills.

It was a long way for the party, but once they arrived at the main hall, something was emerged. In fact, three XIII Order appeared, one was Larxene, looking very pissed after the last time they met; another was holding a scythe with his eyes gazing at them and the last one, who was holding a very big sword.

"So, you're here to gatecrash my party?" Ashura smirked as he got into position "So, what are you? My dear old fans?"

"Shut up you idiot!" The blonde woman hissed angrily "We're here to finish you off!"

"And who's this guy with the big sword? I would like to add to my collection."

"Silence you fool." The XIII Order swordsman calmly jeered his opponent "I am Saïx, the Luna Diviner and the guy with his scythe is Marluxia. I am sure you met Larxene over two years ago."

"Ah, yes. I quite fondly remember. So, what are you here for? If you come to find where I left the most important objects in Lost Eden, I'm sure you're too late."

"Hmm, you think you say that, but you are wrong. We came here for one reason only – capture Ashura Zhan and force to tell where the key to the lost path is. Otherwise, to assassinate you."

"How poetic, it's a shame I can't tell you the easy way, but I've had no choice, but to…try and stop me YOU FOOLS!"

"Well then…" Larxene slyly replied as she disappeared quickly and reappeared behind Aerith and Sephiroth's backs, to which he was quick to realize the trouble "…it will be my pleasure!" She threw a set of needles towards Aerith, as Sephiroth did his best to protect Aerith, but something came unexpected. The white stranger appeared from nowhere as he covered Aerith's back and amazingly grabbed the needles as he turned around and threw back to the wielder.

"Next time…" He smirked at her "…Get better weapons." And soon afterwards, a blue stranger appeared behind Saïx's back and attacked with his katana, though Saïx was not a fool as he guard it just in time.

"Well, well." The blue stranger commented and then shouted to Aerith "Hey, girl with brown hair! You go with that white stranger and Robo-boy! Ashura, One Winged Angel and I'll distract the fools!"

* * *

_Leon and Yuffie vs. Demyx_

"Oh, come on!" Demyx shouted playfully as he hit every note towards Leon and Yuffie "You've got to listen to my music!"

"The Hell with that!" The lone swordsman cried angrily as he 'deflected' the invisible waves at him, while Yuffie attempted to break his defence, but to no avail "Why don't you just bugger off! FIRAGA!" He reached his left as his right hand was cutting the 'wind' and then spouts of fire emerged from his hand and shot right at him.

"Pity." The Sitar player smirked with confidence "You know water defeats fire, don't you? WATERGA!" He also summoned vast amounts of blue energy to target the fireball, but he was not so wise to the fact, Yuffie was behind and hurled her trademark shuriken towards him, causing great damage for not protecting his back.

"But you're left to your defenceless self, when chanting the magic words!" The young kunoichi cheekily exclaimed as she got back to her form.

"Argh! You…I'll get you for that!"

CLASH!

Leon's Gunblade had managed to hit some strings to Demyx's sitar, but that did made no difference to the strategy that Demyx regained his form and counterattacked with more soundwaves.

"You still want more? Huh? I'll give you more! AQUA STRINGS!"

* * *

_Glass Elevator_

"How much time?" Aerith asked very frightfully, as she could not understand why she was with that white stranger. "Is that crazy blonde gone?"

"I cannot scan the enemy." YESHUA replied emotionlessly quickly.

"Well, that's a relief." And she thought about this recent past, before she and Sephiroth part each other temporarily.

"_Aerith, that blue stranger's right! I'll hold them off, while you run for safety!"_

"_But…"_

"_I don't know why they're here, but this might be the only chance to get out!"_

"_Okay, but come to me without a scratch, Sephiroth!"_

"_Don't worry! I can handle things fine, without a single cut on my flesh!"_

And then, she remembered quickly, that white stranger that accompanied them. He was standing there, facing away from her. She have mixed emotions of anger and confusion and she had no words to come out and ask. However, her tongue slipped and she cried with strong words to him.

"Tell me…who are you? Why are you helping Sephiroth, everyone and me? Did you send out this Astaroth of yours, just to test Sephiroth? Why don't you answer me for God's sake! I want to know the truth about everything! All my time, I came to search for my father for two years…for…nothing…" And tears spread out from her eyes more as she could not ask him angrily more. Until she heard that familiar voice…her missing father from the past.

"…Why do you ask so angrily at me? Is it because you think I was a villain to you?"

"That's not the point! You're not answering my questions!"

"Hmm, it seems that you completely misunderstand my point. You seem to think that I am a villain to you and yet, my associate is helping with Ashura and your friend. Is that correct?"

"…Uh, yes. But tell me…who are you?"

"…This may be difficult for you…" His left arm was slowly lifted to his cloaked head and pull out of what looks like a mask as he lowered "…but what you see is what you get. Please do not be surprised, but do you remember of how your mother never mentioned your father…Aerith?" he turned around and he was looking at Aerith straight away. As for Aerith herself, she could not believe her eyes.

"It can't be…you're here…daddy?"

She was completely lost in her world and so much mixed emotions entered in her body. Was she happy to see her father there or was she angry that he did not return to her mother and her? Was she completely surprise or just in absolute shock? Time could only tell. And yet, Gast looked the same as she saw her over the holographic version of himself, despite looking a little older, thanks to grey strands coming out of his brown hair.

"Yes, Aerith. The white stranger that you knew was me."

"B-but why didn't you tell mum and me? Did you really never return? What happened there? I-I-I'm….so confused now!" And new tears were coming out of her beautiful face.

"Aerith, please don't cry for what I've down in the past, but let me tell you the whole story, if you wish."

"No, I don't mind."

"All right then. Let me tell you about the past…"

* * *

_**A couple of years back in Hollow Bastion**_

"_Ansem," Gast remarked very concern with the Sage's unusual experiment "I don't know what it is you're doing, but I'm not happy with the way you're treating people."_

"_And I'm not happy that you're going to leave your world and look for this impossibly lost world that is becoming more of a myth!" Ansem replied with resentment to the researcher's discovery._

"_And yet somehow, you're becoming more interested in Lost Eden itself. Why?"_

"_Heh, you really wanted to know about it? Sorry, but my memory seems to be slow and yet it keeps cropping up."_

"_Well, despite your protest, I'm going anyway. Give my regards to Ilfana and my daughter that I'll be gone for some time."_

**_And a few years later, Ashura's manor_**

"_You mean to tell me that my research to find Lost Eden was a complete lie and a waste of time?" Gast horribly surprised asking to Ashura, while he was drinking tea._

"_Yes, I am truly sorry, if you're ever so disappointed. However, I could make it up for you, if you would like to return home."_

"_And then, get the mocking from Ansem himself. Oh, what am I going to explain to him on this short occasion?"_

"_Did you say 'Ansem'?"_

"_Why yes of course, but why are you interested in a name that you have never met?"_

"_That name…reminds me of a friend of mine…never mind."_

_**Couple of hours later in the bridge**_

"_I hope my hospitality in my ship, Aria Dorma is as comfortable as my baby itself." The young lady captain greeted with much pride over her ship._

"_I thank you for letting Mister Gainsborough and I into your ship, Bellima." Ashura replied with a smile._

"_No problem. You were always and always will be my best customer to the…"_

"_Miss Bellima, we've got trouble!" shouted one of Bellima's crew "Gast's planet has been covered up by some kind of unknown enemy!"_

"_What the-?"_

"_No, it can't be!" Gast shouted, as the holographic showed up as his world was covered in darkness._

"_Right, girls! What's the cause of this?"_

"_There's no absolute source we could find!" Shouted another crew who was busy typing on the holographic keyboard_

"_Damn! So are there any survivors in there?"_

"…_None."_

_That completely shock Gast that no one had survive in his world and tears were beginning to show. But then he realised that there was still hope that maybe there were signs of life in the Heart Star System somewhere._

"_Excuse me, but could you please looked for any signs of life in other planets?" He pleaded to the lady captain._

"_Well, I don't know about that, but hopefully. Well, can you search for any signs of life?" Bellima commanded to her crew._

"_Let me check." She answered as she was typing and then a few seconds later, several bleeping noises began to play on the screen. "Wow! I've never seen there are so many life forms in the planet."_

"_So, there is hope." Ashura remarked as he crossed his arms "Gast, what are you planning to do…?"_

_He saw Gast clinching his fist and his head was down. He never seem him, looking so miserable._

"_Ashura, is it…okay to call your friends here?"_

"_Hmm, why's that?"_

_**The next day at Lukia National Library, Akagi**_

"…_thank you for coming in such short notice." Gast went to explain everything he and Ashura know about the situations._

"_So, it's getting tough, huh?" Astaroth replied with a smirk on his eyes._

"_Vaughn, this is serious." Ashura scolded to him._

"_Yeah, I know, but I'm no longer Vaughn. I've changed my name."_

"_Ah, yes. I have forgotten about that. However, I think I know the reason why Gast's world was covered in darkness and that word, Ansem."_

"_Huh, there's a connection?" Bellima asked in surprise._

"_Yes, unfortunately. It seems that my worry is already there; Astaroth, remember the time your brother tried to kill Hojo's family and yourself?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_I fear that the drug that I have implanted might not be permanent enough to completely wipe his memories off."_

"_So meaning…Ansem might want to know what happened to Paradise Eden and he wants to find out?"_

"_In a way, yes. But also I think his memory might come back regaining one-by-one. This might be a theory, but I have a feeling this is true. So therefore, after hours of discussions, Gast and I should form a group to prevent Ansem from regaining memories, no matter how long it would take. Are you with me?"_

"_Well, loos like this is going to be fun!" Bellima replied happily without hesitation._

"_I'll join." Astaroth replied._

"_Are you sure this is going to work, Ashura?" The young Asian gentleman asked with concern on his mind._

"_I am sure this would keep things safe and avoid another disaster like Paradise Eden over a thousand years ago, Ryoujin."_

_**A few days later, Ashura's manor**_

"_Are you sure about leaving a message to your daughter?" Ashura asked curiously "This might be unnecessary, but are you certain she will survived from your world being in the darkness?"_

"_I know there is little chance my dear Aerith will survive, but if she somehow did and grows up to be a young lady, she will know that I'm still alive and yet she won't know that my face won't be shown as soon as she got here by whatever transportation she can travel."_

"_Well, I hope so."

* * *

_

"…and the rest is history." Gast finished his explanation, before Aerith started talking, very heatedly.

"Then why are you telling me this? Mum and I are were so worried about you years ago, before we were separated by the darkness, Ansem had just unleashed! Why didn't you tell me Sephiroth's uncle is alive and still with you? Why didn't you tell me that Astaroth, who nearly killed Sephiroth, was actually Vaughn himself? Why are you telling me these words?"

"…"

Tears were producing from her eyes and she could not control her feelings. Her sad and angry feelings to her father.

"…It's just like what mum said. You promised to us that you'll come back one day and…"

Then suddenly, a bright yellow came rushing between the two and narrowly missed, until it hit to the wall of the glass elevator; small cracks began to emerge.

"DAMMIT!" Larxene exclaimed as her rage was on full swing , flying madly at full speed and armed with full of needles on her hands, chasing after them "WHY DON'T YOU FOOLS STAND STILL!"

YESHUA's eyes changed from red to somewhat dark brown, giving the chance for Hojo to take over control. "At this rate, this glass elevator will shatter, if the enemy keeps on hitting us…and then we'll fall to our deaths. Unless…" He controlled his energy to Kusanagi's blade and once it was brimming full of white aura, he hurled it towards the young woman flying. And followed by giving some order to Aerith and Gast. "DO YOU WANT TO DIE WHILE SHE'S ATTACKING US? STOP TALKING AND START RETALILATING NOW!"

And soon…chaos had begun.

* * *

_Main hall, Sephiroth and blue stranger (Ryoujin) vs. Saïx_

Many swords clashed on and yet there were still no signs of the three swordsman defeating each other. Until the XIII Order member had just found a way to cut Ryoujin's defence. However, the person in blue had narrowly escaped Saïx's attack, saved for the fact that it had just cut the hood and the mask, and counterattack with a powerful slash. As for Sephiroth, however, once he had noticed the XIII Order member's attack, he was in for a shock.

_His face…Ryoujin…from my father's memories? That's…how can he be here?_

But Sephiroth's thoughts for his first look at his 'uncle' had to wait for Saïx came behind his back awaiting for his chance to slay the One Winged Angel.

"YOU FOOL!" Ryoujin shouted as he regained his offensive position, with his katana, Muerio at his side "STOP STANDING THERE AND GET ON FIGHTING!"

Sephiroth did not noticed what the blue person had told him, until he realised that he was in grave danger, thanks to the noise of Saïx's sword swinging to; he turned around and held Masamune with both hands for a split second defence, while holding on to resist the blade from falling towards certain death.

"Why are you holding on to your life, One Winged Angel?" Saïx hissed as he pushed his sword to the struggling One Winged Angel "I've been told to many legends of the One Winged Angels having bad luck. So, with your long and pathetic sword, your defence is useless. Am I correct?"

Sephiroth grinned to the prospect from Saïx. "Wise words you've got there, but you got my weapon and the statistics wrong!" He kicked the cerulean blue-haired man's leg without noticing and once his left offensive hand handed over Masamune's handle to his right defensive hand, before Saïx counterattacked and made contact with Masamune. However, his attack was not matched by Sephiroth's new defence as he turned around in a Chinese ballet fashion gave an uppercut slash counter, causing good damage to Saïx and then return Masamune's handle to his left hand and position Sephiroth into a phoenix – right leg lifting with only his left leg giving support and only his left hand holding Masamune, despite its long blade.

"What? That's impossible for someone who has heavy swords like you!"

"I know that, but I've mastered Chinese Wu Shu defensive swordplay, as well as mastering Iai-kata-ryu swordplay." And Sephiroth's emerald eyes were gleaming with silent anger towards him "But I have no time to talk furthermore. Get up and fight!"

"Feh. Fine with me!" Saïx got up and fought blade-to-blade, but had to face another opponent, to which Ryoujin joined in the fight.

CLANG!

"Tell me," Sephiroth remarked, while fighting blade-to-blade "why did you come here…uncle?"

CLANG!

"Aerith's father and I came to Ashura to reveal the secrets to you and her when you have solved the puzzle…" Ryoujin replied, while colliding his Muerio with Saïx's sword "…dear nephew."

CLANG!

"Then, there's so many questions that I want to ask you about. About my father and you in Paradise Eden, over a thousand years ago."

CLANG!

"Go on. I'm listening."

CLANG!

"How did you know my father was in what was Archangel Michael's broken body? What happened back in the past, while I was just a young baby?"

CLANG!

"…this is rather a good question you have brought dear nephew. However, this answer I am going to tell you will be long for you to understand. Do you accept that?"

CLANG!

"…Yes, I understand that."

CLANG!

"Then I shall proceed to the beginning."

CLANG!

* * *

_Ashura vs. Marluxia_

"STAND STILL YOU VERMIN!" Marluxia shouted as he tried his best effort to slay Ashura's somewhat unpredictable attack from his blossom scythe.

CLANG!

"You may be given the title of 'Silent Assassin', yet you speak so loudly." Ashura remarked with an evil tone on his grin. "That's pretty pathetic for a person who kills someone without a word."

CLANG!

"Shut up! You're the one who speaks so ill and loudly to me! I can't believe I have a target who insult my skill!"

CLANG!

"It's not that I'm insulting your position right now; it's just that…your master is pathetic for hiring out goons to kill me. So, why can't he just do it for himself?"

CLANG!

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT OUR MASTER! I'LL MAKE SURE I'LL PUNISH YOU WITH YOUR WORDS MYSELF!"

CLANG!

"Then bring it on, you XIII Order fool!"

* * *

_Author's Notes: Yes, another cliffhanger has added to the end of Journey Eighteen (btw, Obumbrata means shadowed in Latin. Thank you Carmina Burata lyrics and Carl Orff!) and the setting has been placed for the fight! Well anyway, before you people are going to ask why Gast's surname is Gainsborough, when it should have been Gast itself; yes that was his surname in FFVII, but since this was loosely set in Kingdom Heart, I made his surname to Gainsborough as well as Ilfana's. So remember people! This is an alternative universe fanfiction, so get that in your head!_

_Even though I can remember a few Organization XIII characters that were in KH: Chain of Memories game, I have to search to the Internet to find the other characters that were from KHII (stupid release date! Stupid PAL conversion! Stupid EU! No wait, scratch the last one. Stupid France (not the people, it's the language!)), so thank you KHU website for doing a fine research. Now, I realise DiZ is not the Superior, but a bloke who was covered in black! But I can't be bothered to change the chapters, since I spent a long time planning, writing and uploading them for the fans to enjoy._

_And thank you once again to turtlerad17, Tish, Foi and Lily Silver to keep me going to write some more! And thank you AeriSeph fans for continuing reading the chapters. Keep those reviews coming in (and **no flamers**, please. I'm so sick of those who think they can bully my work!). And now, the moment you've been all waiting for…another installment of…Nimbus Detour!

* * *

_

**_Nimbus Detour – Bypass Five – Theatrical_**

_Sai Gon Island, Genso_

"It's so nice of you for taking me out to your home Rufus…" Alda remarked as she looked to the blonde haired gunner, before finger-pointing to the 'guests' "…BUT DID YOU HAVE TO BRING THEM IN?"

"Hey, don't ask me!" Rufus replied as he shrugged his shoulders "They want to see what Genso is like, so I invited them along. This is our weekend off, remember?"

"Yay!" Yuffie exclaimed merrily "I'm gonna have fun in Genso!"

"I know that Yuffie, but could you please calm down for a second?" Leon pleaded.

"This is so rare for us to visit and take a rest from our training, isn't that right Sephiroth?" Aerith smiled as she looked on to the One Winged Angel.

"Why did I even bother come to this place?" Sephiroth asked to himself as he was very uncomfortable about spending the weekend in a planet that is full of colourful and vivid life.

"Hey, look! It's sir!" A voice, very similar to Rufus shouted at their direction and closer, they were two figures. One had bright red spiky hair and had had goggles on top of his head, while another had a bald head. However, the gunner's nerve was about to explode when they went to greet them.

"Hi sir, how are…" The red-spiky haired greeted before he was given Rufus's uppercut.

"DON'T CALL ME 'SIR', YOU IDIOT!" Rufus shouted with anger and embarrassment thrown in.

"But sir, don't you recognise me? It's me, Reno!"

"Yes, I know you, but will you shut the hell up, before…"

"Hey, Tseng! It's Rufus! He's back!" shouted a female voice and soon, two more joined and then the rest of the citizens came to greet Rufus.

"Oh great. Hello Elena, Tseng and…Rude." Rufus let out a great sigh.

"Where have you been, Rufus?" Tseng asked politely.

"We've been worried about you, since you left mysteriously without a word!" Elena cried, before Yuffie could speak.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but is it true that Rufus is the son of a famous theme park?" Yuffie asked, while at the same time, Rufus screamed at the same time.

"WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP?" The blonde haired gunner also entirely almost exploded, until…

"Please excuse Reno and the rest of us from barging in without notice, for we are Rufus's assistants and in charge of keeping the theme park when he's away." Tseng explained to Yuffie, Leon, Aerith and Sephiroth, though the last three were not actually listen to what the mid-long haired person had just said.

"Yeah, but you haven't listen to MY question!" Yuffie pouted.

"Yes, he is the son of President Shinra's theme park, but this island alone isn't just a theme park…THE WHOLE PLANET IS A THEME PARK ITSELF."

"Oh God!" And Sephiroth turned around, put his left on his mouth and began shaking madly as Tseng shouted that the planet Genso is indeed a theme park itself.

"Erm, Sephiroth, are you alright?" Aerith asked with some concern.

"Reno!" Some person shouted as he ran across to the gang "We've got trouble! The four lead actors have got a stomach bug, due to some food glitch. We need to find replacements now!"

"WHAT?" Reno exclaimed "Just like that? Then, there's only one thing left to do!"

* * *

_Couple of hours of something later…_

"Oh God, first I am in a planet that is the theme park itself and now I'm some pathetic lead actor!" Sephiroth moaned very much as he could not face any more embarrassment, mainly thanks to this red samurai shinsengumi armour and that white bandanna. And not only that, he also held a wooden katana, to which it was three foot smaller than Masamune.

"Don't worry about it." Aerith replied nervously and politely as she was dressed in a pink long sleeve kimono "It's be over soon."

"Can I just go now?" Leon asked very angrily as he dressed up as 'the-worst-dragon-in-the-world' "This is getting ridiculous!"

"And why am I dressing up as a pansy pixie?" Yuffie complained as she dressed in a bright pink tutu with fake pixie wings and a magic wand that seems to fit with a child "THIS ISN'T FAIR! I WANT MY…"

"Right, people!" Reno announced out-of-nowhere as he clapped to his staff and 'actors' "It's Showtime!"

_Meanwhile, at the seats…_

"Reno's play better work or I'll going to slash his salary!" Rufus sulked as he sat in a special VIP box, where he can see everyone.

"Uh, I do…" Rude answered shortly, but with great amount of fear. And soon the shows started as a certain young silver haired came in the stage, though not noticing the fact that Rufus was somewhere in the audience.

"Welcome to the play of…RENOMANGA DAIOH!" Kadaj confidentially announced as he read the scroll.

At the seats, Rufus could already feel his anger growing. _This is stupid! Why would Reno make this title? Whoever made this crap, will be fired under my IRON FIST!_

"For this tale, we shall tell the story of a lone samurai."

The curtain rises and the stage is set in some old Japanese town. And then Sephiroth appeared whose acting was very wooden indeed. And then Aerith appeared, whose acting was also very wooden and while Kadaj carried on reading like a mad hatter, Leon appeared and did a pathetic acting as he 'captured' the 'damsel-in-distress'. Then it was Yuffie's turn, whose acting was very rotten certainly and gave Sephiroth a prop. However….Hey, what are you doing? I'm writing a fanfiction!

**We apologise for the fanfiction Sho Lover has written so poorly, we, the editors have to cut out most of her latest Detour, due to he amount of absurdness she had mostly written for too long.

* * *

**

_The next day…_

"I will never, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER GOING TO BE IN THAT PLAY EVER AGAIN!" Yuffie snapped as she could not handle the disaster the play has made last night.

"Yeah, the same goes for me." Sephiroth, Aerith and Leon both remarked as their eyes were as dead as a parrot.

"Well, at the least the play is financially successful." Reno remarked as he looked on to the stats on the paper.

"And my old man's so cooped up in the meeting room, that he'll never notice I was here!" Rufus grinned evilly.

"So then," The red spiky haired person spoke with happiness "Do you want to have another go at…"

"NO THANK YOU!" Sephiroth, Aerith, Yuffie, Leon and for some reason, Rufus exclaimed with fury that they will not do the play ever again.

* * *

_Quick note: Whoever notice the many puns I made from several references, shall get a virtual cookie and an inflatable Sephiroth. No wait, scratch the last one. And yes, I was making fun of myself. I was dragged by my imaginary editors for making indecent materials for this Detour. Hey! This is rated T, after all._


	20. Journey Nineteen: Precedent

_**Journey Nineteen – Precedent**_

_**Thousand years ago, Paradise Eden**_

Dammit! So many black creatures! Can't it go any more worse!

_Ryoujin ran as fast as he could, in order to catch up to Hojo's company. However, after many contacts and eliminating as many black creatures as possible, he stumbled across two bodies. One of which made Ryoujin shocked in the utmost horror._

"_It can't be…" He panted so slowly as he moved forward to his lifeless brother "…Hojo…" Tears were producing from his face and just about he was about to cry, he heard a faint voice coming from a inert cyborg._

"_Are you…Hojo's brother?" It asked in a monotone manner, without mouthing its lips._

"_Wha…? Tell me, who are you? Why are you asking me that? Can't you see my brother's dead?"_

"_No…your brother's not…dead."_

"_What…are you talking about?"_

"_Professor Hojo…is inside me."_

"_That's impossible!"_

"_No…he transfer his soul…and his memories directly…to my body…in order that he survives. He was badly…injured by Vaughn's brother…Ansem."_

"…_So what should I do?"_

"_Professor Hojo has given me instructions to tell you, before he entered into me. Firstly, you must seal both the MAs Jehovah and Jennifer and send them out outside the world, so that people will never know their location. It is too late for MA Jenova now. Next…"_

_**Few hours later, Hojo's Office**_

"_Right, I sealed both MAs and send them outta space." Ryoujin reminded as he was typing the data and then connecting the wires to the immobile Archangel Michael "Now, why do I have to connect you to the computer?"_

"_Hojo has placed data…that could only be used…as last resort." His voice explained "And that is inside…my memory bank. In order…that people in…the future will only remember…what Hojo has put…in. And also…he has data that can…completely cover…the world and it path. Until the time comes…"_

"_You mean…Hojo's son…?" He shook his head and press the 'Enter' key, causing a whole herd of klaxons and sirens around. "What the…?"_

"_Quickly…you must hurry to the room…there is no turning back…you have approximately an hour to…escape, before all life in…Paradise Eden is eliminated. I will…guide you on where…the…room is…"_

_With a great big sigh, Ryoujin carried the lifeless Archangel Michael and ran as fast as he could, hoping that he will not be the unlucky person to be caught inside Hojo's strange security measures. He ran and ran; turning back was not an option anymore. He was a long way from running, but then he could see a room, where Hojo's friends have left for safety._

This must be the place, where his friends are! Only a few more steps and…

_Unfortunately, he was blacked out by the minute he nearly reached the machine, as the explosion threw him there._

Dammit! Where am I? It's if I had a coma and couldn't wake up forever. No wait, I can hear…noises?

_Ryoujin woke up and sat up very slowly, his senses coming very slowly as he looked at the strange surroundings. He was in a bedroom, which was quite a coincidence that he was sitting on a bed. Then, the door opened and he saw a man, who looked youthful; black short hair and dressed in his pyjamas._

"_Good morning." He greeted with a smile "Did you rest well?"_

"_Huh?" Ryoujin replied, but then shook his head, not knowing how to reply back "I'm sorry, but where am I, how did I wind up here and where is that robot; I've accompanied him?"_

"_Hey, slow down! Well, you're in my apartment in Serapha; I've found you unconscious somewhere in the streets and don't worry about the robot. It's in the living room, though this robot has suffered damage that is beyond repair."_

"_Wait, did you say Serapha? What planet are we in?"_

"_Huh, a newcomer? You're in the planet Second Eden in the Theophilus Star System."_

"_Second Eden…" He got out of bed, dressed himself with the clothes that the young man have brought in._

"_Wait! Your wounds are not properly healed yet!"_

_And despite the young man's plea, Ryoujin walked to the door that led him outside to unknown territory._

"_Fix that robot."_

"_What?"_

"_You say that the robot is broken. So fix it."_

"_But I'm no engineer! Just a financial advisor. And more importantly, who are you?"_

"_I don't really care. Just do whatever you can." Ryoujin left to the young man's devices on the robot, as he shut the door behind. Never to be seen again.

* * *

_

_Present_

"You mean…" Sephiroth asked, while dodging and attempting to strike Saïx's offence "…you're responsible for the actions you did to Paradise Eden over a thousand years ago, as well as my father's?"

CLANG!

"You could say that." Ryoujin answered, while blocking the big sword's impact "After I left, I came to look for Ashura and Vaughn for a while and then I tried to search for your mother and you. However, I failed."

CLANG!

"You haven't! I was with my mother when I was a baby!"

CLANG!

"What? What happened to you and your mother?"

CLANG!

"I don't know what happened when I was still young. But I know she was with me in a different world. A different Star System, until I was unfortunately separated from her by the darkness when I was six."

CLANG!

"Well, at least you're safe from harm!"

CLANG!

"I wouldn't say that, since we're both in tight spots!"

CLANG!

"Yes, I know. By the way, where is that robot?"

CLANG!

"Uh, well…"

* * *

_Aerith, YESHUA (Hojo) and Gast vs. Larxene_

"THUNDAGA!" Larxene screamed with all her might as she summoned vast amount of thunder energy from her hands and shot right at the moving glass elevator. However, Hojo, now in control of YESHUA's body, stood in front of the doors, lifting Kusanagi on his hands.

"Not this time!" He exclaimed in such a quick motion that the Thundaga energy had been absorbed by Kusanagi's Blade and then he counterattack the magic by throwing the magic from the blade to Larxene, causing great damage to her. Aerith and even Gast were surprised about this.

"Magic…Absorption?" She asked to the cyborg.

"Looks like Ashura made some more surprises than I thought." Hojo surprisingly replied as he positioned Kusanagi into offence once more, as Larxene was still going strong – full of angry rage inside of her.

"YOU THINK THOSE TRICKS WOULD HAVE MADE AN EFFECT ON ME!" She laughed in a maniacal manner "I'LL PUT YOU INTO OBLIVION ONCE AND FOR ALL!" She threw every pin that she had, full of electricity and aimed at the glass elevator. However…

"Reflect!" Aerith chanted as the transparent shield covered the moving elevator and deflect Larxene's pins.

"Magic…?" Gast asked in surprise to his daughter.

"Sephiroth taught me a few tricks, including magic!"

"Ah, I see. But before you do your next magic, there's one warning I need to tell you."

"And which is…"

"The Glass Elevator is going to crash in the Main Hall, unless we do something."

* * *

_Leon and Yuffie vs. Demyx_

"Dammit!" Leon exclaimed as he was trying his best guarding himself with Lionblade, while Yuffie kept on evading Demyx's 'Aqua Strings' attack "At this rate, there's no freakin' way to defeat this insane bloke!"

"Well, do you have a plan, Mister Smarty-pants?" Yuffie asked with a sulky look.

SPLASH!

"Do you know about electrical conductivity, since when we're kids?"

SPLASH!

"Yeah, what about it?"

SPLASH!

"Do you remember how electricity conducts water?"

SPLASH!

"Wait, do you mean…?"

SPLASH!

"Yes, that's what I'm thinking. So, do you know a few thunder spells?"

SPLASH!

"Oh sure. I know a lot."

SPLASH!

"Right, then here's the plan."

Meanwhile on the opposition side, Demyx did not care how these fools would defeat him; as long as he has his water magic and strings attached, he was satisfied that he was winning.

_And once you fools have enough of duping around my performance, I'll make sure you REALLY listen to my lovely act._

"Hey, One-Hit Wonder!" Yuffie taunted to the XIII Order member "Your last song really sucks!"

"WHAT?" He exclaimed very furiously "HOW DARE YOU CRICTISE THE WONDERFUL Melodious Nocturne? me, a stupid person! waterga!"

With a few chants or so later, the giant water ball appeared from his hand and direct straight to the kunoichi. At first, he thought that spell would greatly damage her, but Yuffie was grinning. Something went definitely wrong for Demyx!

"Ha ha!" She smirked at him cheerfully "You fell for it! THUNDAGA!" And with her hands, came a concentrated strong power of electricity from her hands and when it reached at maximum power, she thrusted the spell straight at the Waterga ball. It was intense to see the battle between Waterga and Thundaga, but at the end the latter was more powerful and forced the Waterga spell directly at Demyx!

"WHAT?" He opened his eyes very widely as the oncoming Waterga/Thundaga spell punched at his body, causing heavy damage and he was screaming in pain.

"And that's not all!" Leon bellowed to his enemy as he reached out his left hand and icicles appear from it. "BLIZZAGA!"

"WHAT?"

Too late, Leon casted the Blizzaga spell and froze over Demyx's body, leaving the two to carry on running to warn them.

"Leon!" Yuffie exclaimed as she punched Leon's face rather comically "YOU IDIOT! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GO THAT FAR!"

"Well, ow…" He replied weakly while he rubbed his cheek after Yuffie's punch out "…well, at least we've got to be extra careful to stop this mad guy."

"Yeah, right! What happens if he was thawing out after couple of centuries? We'll be dead in existence by then!"

"Don't worry, Yuffie! The Blizzaga effect will only last for half an hour, so now we should pass through him and warn the others." And after the statement, Leon ran to the other end of the hallway that led to the main hall, leaving Yuffie dazed at first, but then realized that he was running to.

"Hey, Leon! Wait for me! I don't want to be left behind by that crazy performer!"

* * *

"Damn you!" Marluxia panted as he was guarding his life all this time from Ashura's unpredictable offensive moves "WHY DON'T YOU LET YOUR GUARD DOWN?" 

"Isn't that obvious?" The M.P.D laughed evilly "Assassins are supposed to be silent, be able to move quickly as a raven and kill in an instant before blending into society stealthily, but what do I get? A fool who has forgotten how to follow the rules!"

"SHUT UP! I'M SUPPOSED TO KILL YOU IN ONE GO, NOT BEING TAUGHT BY YOU!"

SLASH!

"Well, well, looks like you even put down your own guard, after all. Let the anger come into you and I'll swallow it up!"

SLASH!

"SHUT UP!"

SLASH!

"What's the matter? Did you trained poorly by your master?"

SLASH!

"SHUT UP! WHO TOLD YOU TO INSULT ME?"

SLASH!

"Feh. Seems that you were misguided the whole time…Alexi…"

"What…? How did you know my…?" Marluxia stopped attacking Ashura, once he knew that name…Alexi. But he gritted his teeth in anger. "I'm not Alexi anymore…I'm…"

"Feh. It doesn't matter anymore…STOPAGA!" And with Ashura's chant as he lifted his right hand that carried Ryong-Ming, the young Silent Assassin was frozen as he was about to slash his enemy. However, this did not stop as the unexpected object was about to hit him! "Shit. Might as well get into defensive mode." He closed his red fiery eyes and opened his bright blue iris, crossed his arms that wielded his swords and endured the impact, until it was stopped by the second.

From that moment on, everything stopped. But that was interrupted as the doors from the main hall opened loudly.

"Guys! WE'VE GOT…trouble?" bellowed a young female voice.

"Erm, Yuffie. I think we're too late…" bellowed a male voice.

"Really? Crap!"

On the other hand, Aerith, Gast and YESHUA, now back in control, managed to get out of the glass elevator and never experience that again. Then Sephiroth ran to her, to check if Aerith was harmed.

"Aerith!" He shouted anxiously as he came into her arms. "Are you okay?"

"Sephiroth, I'm fine." She smiled, before she noticed that there was still a battle in the main hall.

"I hate to break this reunion," Saïx remarked as he regained his composure, who soon accompanied by a rather damaged Larxene "…but not only you managed to defeat Demyx and Marluxia, you also proved to be skilful in the battlefield. But I wonder One Winged Angel, if you're skilful in the black sky." Afterwards, both he and Larxene disappeared through a portal behind them, leaving their two comrades. As for Sephiroth himself, he stood up, took up Masamune and began his exit.

"Ryoujin…uncle…" he spoke in a neutral expression "…could you take on the two captured XIII Orders, please? Yuffie, Leon…take care of the injured ones and Ashura…you'd better take care of your boys. Aerith, YESHUA, come with me."

"Wait, where are you going?" Gast asked for the first time to him "Why are you going off with my daughter?"

"…I'm not sure why, but I feel that presence…that I should go out there."

* * *

_Couple of minutes later inside Jehovah cockpit_

"Sephiroth…" Aerith spoke melancholy to him, while fidgeting around the holographic controls "…I've been wondering…"

"What is it Aerith?" Sephiroth replied gently.

"Remember the promise you said to me in Akagi over two years ago?"

"…Yes."

"_I'll take you to the moonlit sky, where I'll show you can walk on the clouds and we'll dance behind the moon to our hearts' contents._"

"Yeah, that's it. I wonder…I wonder if that promise is very far away to reach."

"Yeah, I agree with you. Of course that promise I made can sometimes be near-impossible to reach the goal, due to the obstacles we have to face. But that doesn't mean giving up is an option. If I wasn't with you and I never met you two years ago, then I would be bored to death fighting against Sora, as well as getting so many championship titles."

Aerith laughed gently as there was so much comfort around Sephiroth, while the exterior of Jehovah were travelling to the black blanket of stars "The same goes for you. There are so many common things we share to each other. We may have lost our mothers, our worlds, but we've reunited with our fathers for a long time, visited new worlds and cultures together and…" her cheeks were blushing brightly from her face as she was barely getting the words right out "…you kissed me. I don't know what to say now."

"Come to think of it…that one kiss…that was my first kiss in my entire life." Now Sephiroth's cheeks were blushing too. "I was embarrassed at first…but then I found out that my heart was beating fast and I had dreams of being alone…until you came and I felt…beyond happy. Without meeting you…"

"**_Our lives would have been very different now and this would not been as exciting as this would have turned out."_**

However, the times of peace and comfort for Aerith and Sephiroth was rudely interrupted, as the shaking of the cockpit was strong.

"It can't be…" Jehovah's voice whispered in shock. The two pilots looked at the screen surrounding them and found another MA. Only this time it was purple-silver humanoid shaped with giant 'angel wings' behind its back carrying what it seems to be a very long sword, similar to Masamune, but double-edged this time "…Jennifer…"

"What?" Aerith and Sephiroth both exclaimed in shock too.

"But who could pilot this…" Aerith was about to speak until, the mysterious MA responded quickly by rushing towards the Lost Eden MA and began to slice Jehovah in half.

However, Jennifer's attack was thwarted by another MA, a navy-blue-black-silver humanoid shaped with a somewhat 'devil-shaped' wing on its back. And then unexpectedly…came a voice that was somewhat similar to both Aerith and Sephiroth via communication line.

"It's been a while…Sephiroth."

"How can you pilot the MA…Cloud?" The One Winged Angel remarked as a surprise.

* * *

_Author's Notes: Whew, another Journey (now with added tension) and yes, Cloud soon joins the party (FYI, this is the Kingdom Hearts Cloud is based on, NOT the FFVII one. Sorry Cloud fans, if you're disappointed), but does he intend to rescue Sephiroth or something else? And before you are going to kill me for why I've changed Marluxia's original name to Alexi, well Marluxia doesn't have an original name, so I thought maybe, I should give an extra dimension to his character. Hey, this is an alternative universe fanfiction after all._

_Man, this is pretty hard to do some love scenes between Aerith and Sephiroth, because I'm no good at making that! (Sweatdrop appears from back) I was nearly ran out of ideas, until I stumbled across Daisuke Moriyama's new manga, World Embryo and it gave me a boost, thanks to the interesting, but godforsaken climatic plot (and at the moment at the end of chapter 13, the bloody tension is killing me! Argh!). Come to think of it, World Embryo has two characters that really look and act like Reno and Rude, I wonder if the manga-ka's a fan of Final Fantasy VII. Well, anyway, I think I should stop there, before I'll go really off-topic on how much I love World Embryo so much._

_BIG thanks to Lily Silver and Tish, who were giving me wonderful reviews, without you; I would have made too many one-shot fanfictions of World Embryo. PLEASE review and make a comment (BUT NO FLAMERS, YOU HEAR?) And now, for no reason, here's Nimbus Detour! Enjoy! Btw, if you've missed the references to Journey Eighteen, 'Paranoid' and 'Android' is actually a song title from Radiohead's album, 'OK Computer' and even Bypass Five has one reference to Kiyohiko Azuma's manga, 'Azumanga Daioh'.

* * *

_

**_Nimbus Detour – Bypass Six – Haircut_**

_Recreational Area, Vatican_

"Hey, Leon…?" Yuffie asked while looking at the stars, in a rather bored conduct.

"Now what, Yuffie?" Leon moaned, looking very strange to her.

"Have you ever noticed Sephiroth's hair is ridiculously long?"

"Not really, I haven't noticed it. Not even Aerith and the others noticed that. Why are you talking about it?"

"Well, his hair seems really too long for a normal guy like him and don't you noticed that NOT ONE TINY STRAND OF HIS HAIR DOESN'T GET INTO BLOODY TROUBLE!"

"Well, if you're that curious, then what are you suggesting, instead of ranting around too much?"

"Hmm…"

* * *

_Couple of minutes later, somewhere…_

"I don't know why you summon me to this place, being blindfolded and tied my limbs at such," Sephiroth explained as he had a vague idea of what the hell is going on and was sitting on a chair "…BUT IS THIS GOING TOO EXTREME?"

"Don't worry, Sephy!" Yuffie sniggered happily as she sharpens her shuriken "You won't feel a thing when I cut your lovable hair!"

"What the…! AND FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T CALL SEPHY! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"Hehe, here I come!" Unfortunately, as she threw the shuriken to the One Winged Angel's, instead of completely cutting the hair, the hair broke Yuffie's shuriken into pieces, to which she screamed and cried right in front of it "ARGH! MY PRIZED SHURIKEN! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Huh? Did you bastards cut my hair yet?"

"Yuffie, you're doing it the wrong way. Let the professional do it!" Leon stated as he unsheathed his Gunblade and attempt to cut the platinum hair again, only that was unfortunate too as the blade broke again as it made contact with even the tiniest strand. And Leon cried in agony "Hey! This isn't normal hair! What the hell!"

"Have you even done yet? I don't want you messing around with my hair! YOU HEAR ME?"

"Then, there's only one thing to get this thing done!"

_Few minutes later…_

"Eh?" Kadaj asked curiously, as well as Cloud, though he was more determined to take 'revenge' on the One Winged Angel, once more "Each of us have to cut Sephiroth-san's hair? But why would you send me? I haven't being involved with this!"

"Don't worry Kadaj-chan!" Yuffie smiled, but also trying to hide her sadness after the 'event' "With your double katana, there'll be no problem on cutting Sephy's hair!"

"DON'T CALL ME…!" Sephiroth was about to scream, but was interrupted by a gaffer tape, courtesy of Leon.

"Well anyway, think you're up to it?"

"Well okay." Kadaj remarked as he unsheathed his weapon "But don't expect any guarantees!" With his stance that acted like a quiet samurai, Kadaj concentrated his 'inner power', before he opened his emerald light green eyes and…

CLANG!

…even the double katana was no match for Sephiroth's unbreakable platinum hair as too, broke the weapon and made Kadaj psychologically scarred.

"ARGH!" He screamed with his tears as he knelt down in misery "MY PRESENT! NOW HOW AM I GOING TO EXPLAIN TO SENSEI? FIRST, I WAS PYSHOLOCIALLY SCARRED BY THAT BLONDE MAN WHO TRIED TO KILL ME TWO YEARS AGO AND NOW FOR SOME RIDCULOUS REASON, MY DOUBLE KATANA IS BROKEN? I'M GOING TO…!"

"You're not doing it right, you runt!" Clouds pouted as he got out his new Buster Sword "Now, watch how an expert should work!" _YES! I've finally got a chance to take revenge on Sephiroth after he stole MY AERITH!_

"Cloud, is that you?" Sephiroth asked angrily as he knew what voice this is, while barely taking off the gaffer tape from his mouth for some unknown reason "You'll better not cut my hair OR I'LL HUNT YOU DOWN FOR GOOD!"

"Don't worry Sephiroth." Cloud smirked as he activated his Buster Sword to go from one to six swords "You won't hurt a thing!" He made a dash and by one sword by one…

CLANG!

First sword broke. _What the? Sephiroth's hair is that strong?_

CLANG!

Second sword broke into pieces. _THAT'S bloody impossible!_

CLANG!

Third sword broke. Again. _SHIT! What on Hollow Bastion does his hair made from?_

CLANG!

Fourth sword was shattered. _ARGH! THIS IS PISSING ME OFF NOW!_

CLANG!

Fifth sword was broken as it had made contact. _SEPHIROTH, YOU BASTARD! WHY ARE YOU MAKING THIS DIFFICULT TO ME!_

Cloud was about to take the sixth sword, until he tripped over Masamune, causing the blade to fall over and…

SLASH!

…sliced Sephiroth's hair until it reached on shoulder length, as well as cutting the restraints and blindfold. At first, the situation was quiet when the One Winged Angel stood up, but as he went for the mirror and looked for a long time, his aura was glowing like a mad fire killing light around.

"…Guys…" Sephiroth calmly snapped, before his temper got the better out of him and picked up Masamune.

As for the others, including Cloud, they gulped in bloody fear.

* * *

_Next day in the city of Serapha, Second Eden_

"Good morning, everyone." Sephiroth smiled gently, but what was most surprising to the people that had attempted to cut his platinum hair – it went back to full length.

"S-s-s-s-seph…" Yuffie struggled to get the words out as she pointing to the object that was known as his hair "Your hair has…"

"…grown back?" Leon baffled as he finished the sentence for Yuffie.

"What are you talking about?" Sephiroth realised on what the people are pointing to and he picked a few strands of his silver long hair "Oh, you mean this? Well this happens to me sometimes when I accidentally cut my hair with Masamune and in the past I was a bit careless. But the next day, it went back to full length, so no matter how short my hair length is when Masamune is in contact, it'll always grow back. As for the other methods of cutting my hair, they're useless for some apparent reason."

_What the hell? _Both Yuffie and Leon thought in shock and anger. _Has superhuman unbreakable hair got an effect in that Noir Key or whatever it is?_

Then Aerith arrived in the scene walking in a very merrily mood, unaware of what happened last night.

"Hi guys…?" She stopped and asked in such an enquiring manner to the crowd, where Leon and Yuffie opened their mouths and widen their eyes literally, Cloud stood still like a statue about to break, Kadaj was…well, shaking very violent as he held his now shattered double katana; while Sephiroth was oblivious to the event, when he saw her. "Huh, is something wrong with everyone Sephiroth?"

"Nothing's wrong, Aerith." He lied, while keeping a gentle smile to her.

_YEAH RIGHT YOU BIG LIAR! _Everyone besides Aerith and Sephiroth thought with bursts of anger

* * *

_Quick Note: I dedicate this Bypass to that Harry Potter doujinshi (fan manga) chapter, where poor Harry lost his hair, but then grown back for no reason at all._


	21. Journey Twenty: Influx

_**Journey Twenty – Influx**_

_Jehovah cockpit_

"Cloud, what the hell are you doing here?" Sephiroth asked in a livid manner as the blonde-spiky haired person's portrait was shown on the One Winged Angel's holographic screen.

"I was asking the same question to you!" Cloud's acid-tone reply came in just seconds after his question "Where were you before you disappear from Olympus Coliseum two years ago?"

"Let's just say that fate brought me into this mess!"

"Fate? Then why on Hollow Bastion is Aerith with you? Has she got something in common? Or did you lure you her, so you get can yourself a girlfriend for once, you fool!"

"Look, I didn't lure Aerith myself, you chocobo-boy! She came with me through her own free will, as do Yuffie and Leon!"

"Feh! But what about our fight two years ago? Did you forget something we need to settle our scores?"

"Look! I don't have time for this! We can do our little business later and right now, you're in my way! There's this 'person' I want to eliminate!"

"Tch! Fine with that!"

* * *

_Space_

With seconds of weapon deadlock being loose, Cloud's MA pulled out from battle and with Jehovah, they surrounded the Giant MA Jennifer with incredible speed, but they were no match for Jennifer's ability to sneak behind and cause greater damage to both at double the speed at the same time.

However, they regained their energy sooner as Jehovah pulled out Masamune and clashed 'blade-to-blade' to Jennifer as it, too pulled out its two-handed blade axe from its back and started attacking the both MAs. First, Cloud's MA was striking behind Jennifer, gaining the advantage, while Jehovah was the decoy of distracting Jennifer. But Jennifer was no fool as it already sensed the enemy's presence and counterattacked by swinging the blade towards the target, forcing Cloud's MA to block the guard.

As for Jehovah, it had no choice, but to pull back from the close-combat range and fired long range 'feathers' missiles, while avoiding Jennifer's unexpected dark missiles in a Chinese Crane dance formation.

Overall, it seems that Jennifer was a fiercer opponent than any other that Jehovah face and even though it had teamed up with Cloud's MA to double the chance of defeating the enemy, the 'Giant MA' was never going to give up and continued fighting both the MAs.

* * *

_Inside Cloud's MA, cockpit_

Cloud was struggling every time on defeating this 'Giant MA', even though this was first time on experiencing the pilot position, with all of his limbs in function.

_Dammit! Even though I'm inexperienced on piloting this MA or whatever it is, I still have to settle scores with Sephiroth! And before I knew it, this bloody 'Giant' came and attacked his MA! I'll better do this quick!_

"Cloud…" spoke Sephiroth's struggled voice, since even the One Winged Angel had problems on turning on the holographic, though more experienced.

"What now!" The chocobo-boy exclaimed as he too, found difficult to control and talk at the same time "Can't you see, I'm in a bloody tight spot?"

"Cloud, just listen for Hollow Bastion's sake! It's no use on attacking Jennifer together all at once, so we need to devise a plan!"

"So, got any ideas, so called One Winged Angel?"

"Does your MA have special abilities, like Jehovah's 'Archangel's Blade attack?"

"Yes, but I haven't even tried out, due to inexperience on piloting one, unlike you."

"Listen; use that ability, while I distract the 'Giant' using Jehovah's ability. When Masamune is about to contact to Jennifer's Blade Axe, just use that! Do you understand?"

"…Yeah, I get it."

"You better be or I'll never forgive you!"

"Heh, same goes for you. I don't want you to get killed by it!"

With seconds of communication temporarily broke, Cloud could see Jehovah striking at Jennifer, with Masamune's blade shining brightly even more for the 'Archangel Blade' attack and he was ready.

_There! Here's my Debut!_

"ARCHANGEL'S BLADE!" Both Aerith and Sephiroth shouted in unison via communicator.

"OMNI-HEX-SLASH!" Cloud barked.

* * *

_Space_

After Jehovah made its way, even though when striking to Jennifer's barrier, the giant had no problem on blocking in full effect, for some reason, the 'One Winged' MA pulled out, as well as the light and now, was at the centre of six different giant swords surrounded it and in a blur, the first sword was taken and batter directly to the giant MA.

SLASH!

In a quick instant, the second sword was occupied in addition to another quick and powerful blow.

SLASH!

The third sword disappeared quickly as the blur 'punched' Jennifer.

SLASH!

The fourth sword was drawn rapidly and another cut blown.

SLASH!

The fifth sword went straight ahead to it and with it, heavy damage.

SLASH!

The sixth and final sword was taken away; teaming up with Jehovah at the opposite, they ran in ungodly lightening speed and dealt very heavy damage to Jennifer and finish it at crossing each other's path.

SLASH!

They stood still and turned around to see Jennifer nearly broken down, but in a sudden twist, the Giant MA disappeared into the portal; leaving the two MAs floating into space, until the vessel, Vatican arrived in the scene, ready to pick them up after a good fight.

* * *

_Several hours later in Meeting room, Vatican_

"…I don't know what even happen to Leon and Yuffie, after Adrian, Alda, Rufus and I were knocked unconscious by the XIII Order members." Bach finished explaining on his interpretation of the last event he remembered "However, since I'm up-to-date with the business that you guys, as well as Sephiroth and Cloud's fillers, I guess it's down to look for the path to Lost Eden."

Silence. There was moments of them when the whole crew, including Sephiroth, Aerith, Yuffie, Leon and Cloud, when they attempted to consider the best course of action. However, this tick of peace was marginalised by the growing threat of Sephiroth and Cloud, exchanging glares at each other, ironically opposite to each other as well. Nevertheless, Aerith put her gentle soft hand on the One Winged Angel's warm palm, as a gesture to stop this nonsense.

"How did you know you found the whole gang, Cloud?" Yuffie asked quickly as she spoke for the first time.

"Do you really want to know?" Cloud's reply came rather bitterly "I'm not in a chatterbox mood to talk, especially when Sephiroth's around."

"Well excuser moi for having my presence deepen worse to you." Sephiroth smirked acrimoniously, as his emerald green eyes narrowed at the blonde spiky haired swordsman.

"Do you wanna fight here, right now? I'll be glad to take you down!"

"Guys, this is not the Olympus Coliseum!" Aerith exclaimed softly as she was disapproved to this action.

"Fine!" He sighed greatly, but sat up straight to start the explanation "The reason I'm here with you…" he glared at the One Winged Angel furiously "…especially with Sephiroth, is this: Over two years ago, I was about to participate the tournament in the Olympus Coliseum, though the traffic has been overwhelmed, so I was literally stuck, until the incident happened. I ran, but I was distracted by these crimson monsters from nowhere and I had no choice, but to fight through my way and at the end of it, not only there was a bloody mess in the arena, from that time, Aerith and Sephiroth disappeared without a trace.

"Shattered that you two were missing for the last two years, I searched for you on every world I can manage to find, only to find out that I haven't you on every single world! And then, just when I thought my luck has worsened, I heard news that Yuffie and Leon disappeared from Hollow Bastion immediately. I dashed as fast as possible only to discover only Cid and some moogles were there…"

* * *

_**Two years ago in Hollow Bastion**_

"_I've told ya," Cid remarked angrily "Leon and Yuffie are going to save Aerith and Sephiroth with help from these strange folks in some faraway planet that I've never heard of."_

"_But you know where they're going, right?" Cloud asked to Cid, in a more worried state._

"_Look, Spiky! I'm not some intellect that knows everything! I don't know what these kids were going, as they left without a word to me and now, you want to go there as well?"_

"_I just want to know where they're going…as well as settling the scores with Sephiroth."_

"_Well, if you want to know where the kids were gone, you're too late for the train. Even I don't know where the coordinates to some world!"_

"_What? Then how am I going to find a way to catch to them?"_

_All hope for Cloud seem very lost indeed, but Cid was just standing there, chewing his toothpick, until he jolted his head, giving a shed of light to the spiky haired swordsman._

"_However, I'm not sure this'll help you or not, but those Yeager folks from the planet that I've never even heard, er, what is it called again? Ah, yes. Second Eden…"_

"_Second Eden…?"_

"_Yeah, those folks gave us some new technology I can mess with my Gummi ship. I'm not sure of how they work, but they'll take you to that place."_

"_Are you really sure about this?"_

"'_Really sure about this'? The hell I am! However, this'll take me some time to build the Gummi ship with that new technology from scratch; so you'll have no choice, but to wait for a while."_

"And a while it did. Because of the new technology that made Cid hard to handle, it took him no less than two years to finish the job and as soon I went on board to the Gummi Ship, I went to the place, called 'Second Eden' and search for the clues."

_**Kei's Bookstore, Second Eden**_

"_You wanted to search for Sephiroth and the others?" The Afro-Edian person asked in surprise "I'm afraid you're a bit late to tell me. They've gone somewhere on some investigation about Lost Eden or something. If you want to find them, then ask my younger sister. She's an acquaintance to Sephiroth, so she could help you. And please buy the books. We've having a half-price sale on the Jane Austen novels!"_

_**Project Y check-up room, Yeager Enterprises Research and Development Department Building, Second Eden**_

"_Eh?" Eliza exclaimed surprisingly, while Yazoo was sleeping on the job "Why are asking me that question? Of course, Sephiroth and the others are gone, with the exception of Yazoo and me of course, to investigate the Lost Eden incident, but I don't know what they're going to do with it."_

"_Then, tell me," Cloud remarked politely to her "I've heard that Sephiroth is riding on this, MA you've built to make."_

"_Sephiroth's MA? But that wasn't our…"_

"_I don't really care! You're got more advanced technology than Cid does way back, so please. Make the MA very same to Sephiroth's."_

"_Er…I don't think that's possible to create an MA that is on-par with Sephiroth's MA power and strength. But I can try making one. Though I need to get permission from the director, get the designs sorted out, get the standard seal of approval, before construction be…"_

"_But how long does that MA is completed?"_

"_Hmm...Maybe three to six months, though that could take longer if it was an experimental one!"

* * *

_

_Present_

"And after a few months before I saved you from that giant, the MA was completed, though that Eliza woman christened Fernier for no absolute reason, and the rest you could say, is history."

"Pfft!" Sephiroth sulked with disgust "Did that happen in the Heart Star System two years ago? I found it quite boring when you say it!" And afterwards, he stood up and left the meeting room quietly and quickly, follow by Aerith who soon went after him, subsequent to Cloud's story.

"Aerith, why is she with Sephiroth?" Cloud tensed to the people that knew the couple a lot.

"…I don't really know." Yuffie answered in an unusually morbid behaviour, not her natural self "…But what Leon and I know is that Sephiroth is very close to Aerith for some time now. He needs her when the self-proclaimed One Winged Angel cannot fly without its wing and…" Her cheeks were blushing very red as she nearly lost her speech "…she needs him when her courage gets lost in many worlds…"

"…" Cloud could not believe on what the kunoichi had said to him. _Sephiroth needs Aerith? That's…just shit! Sephiroth's not just some person who would need someone…he's my darkness that won't just come out!_

Meanwhile in the recreational area, Sephiroth was slamming his fist directly at the table hard, gotten angry after meeting with Cloud after a while. However, the anger tense that surrounded the room eventually faded into serene comfort as Aerith entered the room and sat next to the One Winged Angel.

"Is there something wrong with you, Sephiroth?" She asked first tremblingly as she thought that he would not reply the answer, but thankfully he did.

"…No, just an acquaintance I met some years back."

"I see…then I wonder why is this Cloud is so angry to see you."

"…You wouldn't understand as I'm going to explain to you of why that chocobo-boy and I were not meant to be friends."

"But I understand that! You protected me from these unfortunate accidents over the past two years and I protected you when your sword cannot penetrate in the field where you're helpless! And you've with me ever since, so I've been so close to you now; even when you kissed me! Not to mention you told me on the promise made in Akagi!"

Sephiroth was reluctant to give Aerith the bad new, but she wanted to know what the relationship between Cloud and him, so he gave a big sigh and had no choice, but to say it. After all, he was very close to her for the past two years.

"…Fine, if you really must know. Before you entered the scene in the Olympus Coliseum two years prior, Cloud and I were not the best of friends. You see, I don't know if the fake myths that One Winged Angels carry bad luck, but several years back…"

* * *

_**Several years ago in Olympus Coliseum**_

"_So, you came…Cloud."_

"_And so did you…Sephiroth."_

"_Hmm…now why would you be here? Have you got any explanation to as you're here?"_

"…_Were you the responsible for making my home world come to the darkness?"_

"…_What do you mean?"_

"_Don't ask with that look! Ever since we were young, I saw the whole thing swallowed up by the darkness and the myths are true…One Winged Angels are considered to bring bad luck and destruction."_

"…_So why are you telling me that? That's just nonsense, like what my mother told me ages ago."_

"_THEN DON'T BELIEVE YOUR MOTHER! Because of that, I felt something horrible inside and then I realize that my darkness…was you."_

_SLASH!_

"_Ha! Such twaddle! Why can't you come inside the darkness? I've experienced it once!"_

_SLASH!_

"_I don't want to be in your darkness! You've caused so much misery for me! Therefore, in order to be in the light, I must destroy you!_

_SLASH!_

"_But you must know, that light…shares the same quality as darkness. It's like Yin and Yang…"_

_SLASH!_

"_SHUT UP! I'M NOT HERE TO LISTEN YOUR PHILOSOPHY CRAP!"_

_SLASH!_

"_Fine…suit yourself, should you want to fight me. But to tell you the truth…"_

_SLASH!_

"_SHUT UP! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR BLASPHEMOUS LIES!"

* * *

_

_Present_

"…After the fight and somehow, I won, Cloud disappeared suddenly soon afterwards and never to be seen again. I don't know what happened to him and I don't want to care about it."

"I see. Even though it wasn't you that engulfed the darkness, Cloud was still blind from the actual truth that you're trying to tell him."

"Yeah, coupled with a few taunts at the side. So listen, should Cloud wants me to be alone somewhere, please don't follow me."

"Eh? But…"

"Aerith, there are things that you should not interfere with Cloud and my business. I think it is best to for you to stay away, so that you won't get hurt."

Sephiroth saw Aerith's sad face, knowing that his burden would be too much for her to handle. He knew that if he would told her further on, then this would crush her heart, as her well as her health and when silence took over the area, she stood up and returned to her room. But before she did that, Aerith turned around and spoke to Sephiroth.

"Sephiroth, can you do something, before facing danger further on?"

"Yes."

"Please don't hurt Cloud. I know that he's such a stubborn boy, but…he understands the situation of what's going on anyway."

"Why's that? I don't know if I can hurt Cloud or vice versa."

"After Hollow Bastion was swallowed up, Leon, Yuffie, Cid and I fled and settled to Traverse Town, where Cid went into the Accessories business. Then, a few months later, our younger selves found this poor unconscious boy, who later became Cloud and nursed back into health, until he took off suddenly."

"…"

And then stillness took over the area once more, pending that Sephiroth's mobile phone vibrated in his pocket, took it out and flipped the cover over to see a test message. It read:

_To: Sephiroth_

_From: Cloud Strife_

_I saw you talking to Aerith. Are you trying to lure her, so that the depth of darkness is greater, bastard?_

He replied with touches of pads.

_To: Cloud Strife_

_From: Sephiroth_

_Luring Aerith into the depth of darkness? I think you just misunderstood chocobo-boy._

He pressed the button that sent the message, only to get a reply seconds later.

_To: Sephiroth_

_From: Cloud Strife_

_Don't lie to me! Why are you still alive and still got bad luck with you? Shouldn't you be best left alone without Aerith and die in agony?_

Another reply Sephiroth made.

_To: Cloud Strife_

_From: Sephiroth_

_I would like to die, but I can't. You still misunderstood, even today. I need Aerith and she needs me, because if we were to split up without survival, then either one of us will die. It's a fact of life._

Pressing the 'send' button and getting a reply quickly later.

_To: Sephiroth_

_From: Cloud Strife_

_Fact of life? I think you're the misunderstood one! You always want something that's selfish to you! Enough with the words, I challenge you to the duel!_

He sighed greatly that he had enough of crossing swords with the chocobo-boy, but with his reply:

_To: Cloud Strife_

_From: Sephiroth_

_Fine, bring it on. Just reply me with the location and I'll be there.

* * *

_

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Come in!" Aerith shouted, as she was sitting on the bed, while the door opened and surprisingly, Sephiroth came in and sat down beside her.

A few seconds later, his arms surrounded her gentle body and forced both of their bodies to fall onto the pillows, as he touched her slender chestnut brown hair and the same went to Aerith, touching his strands of long platinum hair. Unexpectedly, what happened next was the two kissing each other and fall into embrace, in addition to the mood into the area, as the only lighting in the room was the black blanket of shining stars outside.

"Whatever you do Aerith, please don't leave me."

"I will. And please Sephiroth, don't leave me too. I'll be lonely if I'm in there."

"Don't worry, if we wound up into the darkness, there's even a small glint of hope and light beyond the darkness."

However, all this bliss was a short moment, as the 'next day', Aerith woke up to find out that Sephiroth had disappeared without a message to say otherwise.

"Sephiroth…?" She gasped in surprise.

* * *

_Author's Notes: Another chapter done, another suspense ending to top it all off. I like giving out surprises to you, readers. Unlike some AeriSeph fanfictions that had Cloud and Sephiroth completely misunderstood each other, I think I'm going to make Cloud misunderstands everything, because I didn't want to add him right away, until later chapters, where the plot goes darker._

_Now, as for the dialogue part in the bit where Cloud and Sephiroth met each other the last time several years ago, there's no action descriptions (can't be arsed to describe those), so if you want some action to go along, do that in your head and let the imagination take its course. I always wanted to do different with the way people write their fanfictions, so I went experimental with this one. And then, there's my new obsession with World Embryo…dammit! When on Earth Daisuke Moriyama's going to finish chapter 14? I can't wait that long! And then, there are my top three favourite characters in that category so far (Neene is in third, 'cause she's just so cute! Followed by Takao, because he wields a katana and he such a great, but mysterious character to have and the overall top place is obviously Riku (No, don't confuse with the Kingdom Hearts bloke), due to his physical 'weirdly cute appearances' and his somewhat flawed anti-hero reluctant personality. I love main characters with flawed talents), but I'm talking too much World Embryo now, so I'll just stop there._

_Big thanks to many AeriSeph fans, including Lily Silver, Tish, turtlerad17, Foi and many wondering people who are reading my fanfiction! Keep sending some reviews and comments in (as long as none of them have FLAMERS) and more extra goodness, in the form of…NIMBUS DETOUR! And for disclaimer's sake, a few of the AeriSeph fanfictions aren't mine, they belong to its respective AeriSeph fan-authors.

* * *

_

_**Nimbus Detour – Bypass Seven – Fanfiction**_

"ARGH!"

Everyone murmured on who screamed in the first place, but as Aerith, Leon, Yuffie and Cloud came into the room, they soon find out it was Sephiroth staring at the computer, his emerald green eyes widen madly.

"Eh?" Yuffie smirked with curiosity "Sephiroth, have gone madly again?"

"No!" He replied angrily "But look! I was about to go to the internet to look for information about Second Eden, until I went into this fanfiction website."

"Huh?" Everyone gasped in exasperation.

"Oh let it me look!" Yuffie exclaimed as she snatched the mouse from the One Winged Angel and clicked to this somewhat 'exotic' fanfiction, where the content inside there was more embarrassing than gossip "Whoa! I never knew I'm reading a 'yaoi' or 'slash' fanfiction! And let's see, 'then Sephiroth's hand touch Clou…'"

"FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T CONTINUE READING THIS RUBBISH YUFFIE!" Sephiroth and Cloud unusually both scolded to the kunoichi, after realizing she was a slash fanfiction that involves both of them.

"Okay, okay! I won't continue reading, so where next? I know! I'm going to filter the search for some Cloud and Aerith pairing fanfictions!"

"Huh?" Chocobo-boy gasped, while Aerith was perplexed about the moment.

"Let's see, how many 'Clerith' or 'Aerud' or 'Cleris' or whatever pairing fanfictions are there?" She scrolled down on the two characters search, and a few seconds later…"OH MY GOD! THERE ARE ABOUT TWENTY-SIX PAGES OF THESE TITLES INVOLVING THEM?"

"What? Let me see! I want to read a selection of them!"

"Oh no you don't!" Sephiroth exclaimed as he snatched the mouse from the spiky-haired swordsman and went on to filter the search "There's too many of them, so I'll search on these characters!" He scrolled down on the two characters that he chose, funnily enough it was Aerith and Sephiroth himself and when the page finished loading, he found some amazingly titles.

"Huh, 'Unspoken'?" Aerith asked in a curious manner "Can I have a look?"

"Oh sure."

She clicked at the title and after reading a few chapters, her face blushed, and for some reason Yuffie too, as she read the last words of the chapter so far "I never expected to see Sephiroth not talking in the entire chapters."

"Really? That'll shut him up for a while." Cloud sarcastically remarked.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Sephiroth snapped as he pressed a few 'Back' buttons and look for another title. "Let's see here, what should we look for next? What's this, 'Lost In The Shadows'?"

"And what the hell is 'CloTi'? Some person who has two uppercase letters in their name?"

"You dummy, the 'Ti' part might be…hmm, 'Tifa'?"

"'Tifa'?"

"Oh shut up and read the damn thing!"

Several minutes of reading chapters later, to which Aerith, Leon and Yuffie left the room, leaving Sephiroth and Cloud, though not in a sexual relationship.

"Who the hell is 'Toyori'?"

"Are you sure your brain is left in space?"

"No! I don't want to imagine of what he looks like and what's the deal with his 'girlfriend'? Are they the monsters?"

"Cloud, do you want to continue looking and reading as some fanfictions or heaven forbid, force you to reading the 'Sephiroth-slash-Cloud' yaoi fanfictions?"

"Argh! Not that! I don't want to vomit over those!"

"Good, now what's next here." Sephiroth scrolled down on some titles, but the one title that caught him the most surprising and somewhat disturbing was this title he clicked on.

"'Helium Insanity'? Eurgh!"

"What? Let me read!" Cloud read a few paragraphs from the chapter, only to find out that he was laughing unusually "Oh my God! You're being tortured by Aerith herself! That's so funny!"

"Funny my arse! Can't we go to another title, where the disturb bits are less wild than they are?"

And after looking at some more titles, the two found this suspicious title.

"'Nimbus Exploration'?"

"And it's written by a person who loves someone called 'Sho'? "

"What the? Who would have the right mind to read this sort of crap, which is written by someone who loves this Sho? I mean, that's wrong!"

"Cloud, I think you've gone a little overboard on this issue. Shall we read on?"

And after some deliberations, chapters that seems to be going on forever and bonus chapters that can very non-canon to the fanfiction, Cloud and Sephiroth came to read the final sentence of this bonus side chapter that they were reading now.

"What the hell! That doesn't make sense to me!"

"Yeah, so do I. I mean, if the paragraph says that these people are reading on the final sentence, doesn't that make more confusing as we talking now?"

"…Sephiroth, for once, I wholeheartedly agree with you. Now, let's make get a review, before anyone else does."

* * *

_Meanwhile, somewhere around the globe on somewhere called England…_

There was a female Vietnamese teenager, whose name shall be remain anonymous, who woke up from an unexpected hangover, possibly too much alcohol, and sat down to turn on the computer and opened her draft for her next fanfiction chapter. However, as she was about to write the next sentence for the third paragraph, she went into the internet to check any reviews for her latest fanfiction. Aside from the usual replies from her friends and fans, she stumbled across two anonymous reviews – one from a person named 'Chocobo Bloke' and the other 'One Silver Angel'. Bemused on what they thought of her latest chapter, she went to look for the reviews and found somewhat shocking.

One from 'Chocobo Bloke' that says: _Why on Earth is your name Sho Lover? I mean, shouldn't you at least make a fanfiction about this Sho you love, instead of this crap you've written? Anyway, the plot is wonderful to begin with, only let down by some absurdness of surrealism you've put in and for God's sake, I want to see more of the Cloud/Aerith interaction!_

_What the…? _She thought showing genuine confusion _Who the hell is 'Chocobo Bloke' and why does he think my username should have been the focus of fanfictions? That idiot must have a brain to know, that there are other characters and pairings that I love! Not just him!_

And then she read from this 'One Silver Angel': _I must thank you for bringing such wonderful plot you bring in, especially the interaction between Aerith and Sephiroth, but also the characterising Hojo as a father figure in Journeys sixteen and seventeen. However, I must point out the cricitsm that you made for the bonus chapter shown in Journey twenty – the plot is so not funny, I can just imagine John Cleese laughing at you for trying that and this makes no sense at all. Please, nest time on writing the next bonus chapter, make the plot funnier and on the rails!_

_Eh…? That doesn't seem right. I felt that I'm living in a world, where everyone's a critic, including myself!

* * *

_

_Quick Note: I apologise to yaoi pairing fangirls for offending, if my joke seems a little off the scale. But hey, at least, please appreciate that there are heterosexual pairing fangirls (including me) and even bisexual pairing fangirls that you should respect to, not bashing them in with your childish comments. And I have no idea why I made this Detour very weird. Maybe I've got a sense of surreal humour. (Laughs like a true idiot) and anyone that finds a reference to British rock band, The Automatic's song 'Monster', gets a virtual cookie._


	22. Journey Twenty One: Blood

**_Journey Twenty One – Blood_**

_**Q.N.: I pay my homage to Tish and Lily Silver for having me to continue writing this fanfiction, otherwise I would be distracted by reading World Embryo scanlations and playing Star Ocean on my Snes9x emulator.**_

_Yuffie's Room, Vatican_

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Huh?" Yuffie croaked very weakly as she got up quickly and look for the button, so that someone could come in, rather interruptedly "I'm coming! So don't you…huh? Aerith what are you doing here?"

Aerith's face was full of concern and tears as she held her hands on the kunoichi's shoulders. Then Yuffie realised that there was something wrong with the brunette girl.

"Yuffie…" She cried, holding her emotion without breaking it "…I can't find Sephiroth!"

"What? Are you really sure? Then, why don't you sit down and let your 'trust sister' Yuffie, to take care of!"

They sat down on the bed, facing each other, as they attempted to find out the reason Sephiroth had disappeared all of a sudden.

"This is all bad…I mean, Sephiroth wouldn't leave me and disappeared all of a sudden. I don't know if I'm going crazy!"

"Aerith, just calm down! Now, tell me what's going on in the beginning, because I have no idea on what you're talking about."

"Well, ok…After we were reunited with Cloud in the meeting room, Sephiroth and I were in the recreational room, talking about Cloud himself and why he was misunderstood all of the time when it was Ansem's doing, not Sephiroth, who plunged their home world into the darkness. And after a while, I left Sephiroth alone and went into my room, where I was about to rest for a while and I heard knocking noises from the door. I opened and Sephiroth was there, holding me in embrace and both of us fell on to the bed. It was such a beautiful and rare moment for us to be in this situation.

And then, the next thing I knew, I woke up and…he wasn't there. At first, I thought he went out for a stroll and my mobile phone vibrated in my pocket…and this is what the message he gave to me said…

_To: Aerith Gainsborough_

_From: Sephiroth_

_Aerith, by the time you have read this message, I will be gone doing some 'unfinished business' with Cloud in a secret location. I'm sorry that I never told you about this, but I wish I don't want you to be involved and increased my burden. This is for my sake, so that you won't watch what is happening between us._

_But don't worry. I'll be back in one piece and fulfil my promise to you. No matter what the cost maybe, I will come back._

…and that's about it. I…I ran everywhere just searching for him to see if he was joking, but so far…I couldn't find him…" She could not hold her emotions as tears showed evidence that Sephiroth had truly disappeared from the flagship.

"Hey, calm down and wipe that tear off your face. It's not the end of the world! Just because Sephy left you, doesn't mean he actually dumped you for good!" Yuffie gave a great big smile to her, which made Aerith warming "Sephy just worries about you when dealing with his business from the past. So, if you want to find him, let's look for him together and get ourselves to think!"

"Thanks, Yuffie. You cheered me up when all hope seems lost."

"No problem! When sadness takes over you, let Yuffie the wonder ninja wipe it off for you! Now, let's look for Sephiroth!"

* * *

_Somewhere in Second Eden_

Night time. A setting that is perfect for a hours of darkness duel, as Sephiroth walked to the cherry blossom trees that would never turned into green leaves and then the central fountain, whose marble statues feature beautiful carvings of angels. And then, when the shining moon is full, Cloud appeared with his sword strapped behind his back; silence came and the only noise that add further tension was the light cool breeze that whisked Sephiroth's platinum hair.

"Finally, we can end our business." Cloud spoke calmly, before his voice starts to rise to anger.

"Yeah," Sephiroth replied "Too bad we have to fight in this peaceful garden."

"Now, where we were before you disappeared from the Olympus Coliseum?"

"Cloud, this fight is pathetic and worthless. Even though everyone has darkness in their hearts, including Aerith and me, your darkness is not me. So, why not plunge into the darkness and find it where your darkness is truly placed into."

"What did you say?" He unsheathed his sword ready for his offensive position, while Sephiroth readied himself, with unsheathed Masamune on his left hand, geared up for his Iai draw.

"I was in darkness once, just like you, several years ago as a child. I lost my way and my mother inside that black place, but then I heard my mother's voice – that light beyond the darkness…"

"Will…YOU SHUT UP WITH YOUR PHILOSOPHY CRAP AGAIN!" Cloud fiercely exclaimed as he rushed towards Sephiroth's defenceless state, seconds before the One Winged Angel's position turned into his Chinese defence swordplay and counterattacked with Chinese ballet defence slashes, before returning to Iai offensive swordplay.

CLANG!

"Cloud, you need to open your eyes and find your light within your darkness!"

CLANG!

"My light has disappeared! My family, my friends, my home…all swallowed up by the darkness! And the only way to free the light is – to destroy the source of darkness…you!"

CLANG!

"You're fighting the wrong darkness!"

CLANG!

"SHUT UP! I KNOW YOU'RE MY DARKNESS AND THE ONLY WAY TO HAVE MY VENGANCE TO EVERYONE IS DEFEATING YOU!"

CLANG!

"CLOUD! WON'T YOU JUST LISTEN FOR ONCE?"

CLANG!

"I HAD ENOUGH OF YOU TALKING TO ME LIKE YOU KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THE DARKNESS AND LIGHT! YOU'RE JUST A MALEVOLENT BEING LIKE THE HEARTLESS!"

CLANG!

* * *

_Bridge, Vatican_

"You want me to search for Sephiroth and the last time he was in here?" Adrian asked in surprise as he woke up from his workplace.

"Please, Adrian" Aerith pleaded gently as her hands were seized together as if a prayer was announced "I want to find Sephiroth."

"Yeah, ditto." Yuffie remarked, cheerfully as usual "Otherwise if you don't, I'll rip your clothes off immediately!"

"Oh right, oh right already! I'll just see to that. Though I'm going get real trouble with Bach later on." With his rimmed glasses fully placed, he sat up and typed very quickly on the holographic keyboard. Many bleeps and whirring noises later and the screen showed up with CCTV footages. "Let's see…you were asleep Miss Gainsborough and somehow, Master Sephiroth woke up very early and left your room." Another CCTV footage was shown in the MA dock room "Huh, now why did the CCTV footage show me…no, wait! I see Master Sephiroth running to dock one!"

"WHAT?" Both women exclaimed in complete shock.

"But that's impossible!" Aerith soon followed her exclamation "The MA Jehovah requires two people to pilot this! Unless…"

"Unless what?" Yuffie questioned in bemusement.

"Unless he turned on to auto-pilot mode for the destination taking place and sat in the weapon controls seat. Adrian, the last time Sephiroth and I left without warning two years ago, there was an alert in all over the flagship and you had to find us. Now, why didn't that happened this time around?"

"Well," Adrian answered calmly "…I think everyone in the bridge, including me, were taking a night off as ordered by Bach before Sephiroth left rather unexpectedly. And not only that, beforehand, Cloud left couple of hours ago after the initial meeting with each other…and…"

"…wait, Cloud? Hang on, I remember something. Right after I woke up and found out that Sephiroth disappeared, I remember that Cloud had disappeared too. I think that Cloud had some grudge against Sephiroth over several years ago and…" And then the realization just zapped on to Aerith's mind "…oh no! Cloud's going to kill Sephiroth!"

"EH?" Both Adrian and Yuffie exclaimed again.

"Don't you see? Sephiroth left, because Cloud wanted him for doing something several years ago and he wrongfully thinks that the only way to overcome his darkness is by…killing Sephiroth, just because he has a black wing on his back."

"But we all know that Sephiroth's wing was the cause of the Noir Key side effects right? Well, except for Cloud anyway, but still…"

"There's only one way to solve this mess out, before Sephiroth gets killed by Cloud's hand! Yuffie, I hope you get your MA ready."

"What? We're going to find Sephiroth and Cloud right now? But how the heck are we supposed to find them, if we don't know where they are?"

"Wait, I can handle that." The half-Chinese man answered as he began typing again on the holographic keyboard "It's a good thing my father used to be a Star System-class hacker and taught me a few things about computers. Now, if I can link up to the T.S.S main computer and link on to the CCTV section, then I shall find your friends."

He typed as fast as his abilities could and the on-board computer was connected to the main system all in a few clicks, then he found the CCTV section and linked up every camera in all planets. Every time he looked at the screen, neither Sephiroth nor Cloud was there on the screen, until he found one…in Second Eden.

"Right, they're in Second Eden and…they're in the Velut Luna Memorial Garden Park!"

"Thanks Adrian. Now can you release the lock when Yuffie and I get on board?"

"Hey, wait a minute!" Yuffie exclaimed in surprise "Why did I get involved in…"

"Yuffie, are you going with me or not? I can't pilot your MA, you know."

"Fine!"

Leaving Adrian to hack on releasing the lock, Aerith and Yuffie dashed from the bridge to the MA dock area minutes later, where the MA Kami-Kaze was placed on to dock four.

"So, this is where your MA is placed."

"Well, hurry up! I need to go to the pilot seat, you know. Otherwise, you won't know a thing or two about controlling one of them!"

Once they were seated in the cockpit and the torso door closed, Yuffie was making some preparations and when the screen switched on and the holographic screen of Adrian was there, he was already typing.

"Right, I managed to overwrite the lock release and you can go, whenever you're ready." He remarked as his head sweated slightly.

"Okay, thanks Adrian." Aerith replied.

"Just release us, already!" Yuffie exclaimed happily, as she can hear the female PA's voice from the distance counting down the numbers.

* * *

_Velut Luna Memorial Garden Park, Second Eden_

Many strikes, many stances and many breaths later and there was still no end to the chaos that either of the men were letting their strengths down.

_Dammit! _Sephiroth thought as his best efforts with his mixtures of Chinese ballet and offensive Iai swordplay mixed into his style. _At this rate, there's no way my defence will last that long!_

_Dammit! _Cloud thought angrily as his anger was directly connected to his offence and attempted many times to penetrate the One Winged Angel's Chinese ballet defence _What the hell has Sephiroth made over the last two years? I can't even break his defence yet! I have to avenge everyone in the world, otherwise if Sephiroth was alive, then my darkness would break out forever! _The red aura that surrounded the chocobo-boy's body grew into powerful energy as he made great cross slash that penetrated Sephiroth's defence, but only by minor amounts.

CLANG!

"Why, Sephiroth? Why are you still on defending yourself? The darkness would never submit defence!"

CLANG!

"Cloud, open your eyes! I'm defending myself, but not attacking you, because you're blind to the actual darkness itself!"

CLANG!

"Actual darkness itself? You must be joking Sephiroth! I'm not that blind!"

CLANG!

"It's true to you! I was in the same position as everyone else does, including Aerith and you! Blind by the actual darkness, I managed to find the light that was hidden inside it and got out there!"

CLANG!

"Will you SHUT THAT PHILOSPHY CRAP UP! I HAD ENOUGH OF YOU LECTURING ME! YOU PISSED ME OFF RIGHT NOW!"

CLANG!

And with Cloud's anger gone overboard, he released the lock that surrounded Sephiroth – except there were six swords pointing at the end to him, each with different design.

_Okay Sephiroth don't get nervous about Cloud's unexpected attack! _He thought surprisingly as he held Masamune in a crane position. _You can overcome unexpected attacks, like Astaroth's two years ago. I better used my black wing to good measure! _And as Cloud was about to take one of the six swords that was unleashed, the One Winged Angel closed his eyes and concentrated and when he heard the chime of the sword coming towards him, he opened his emerald green eyes quickly and turned his black wing into millions of separate black feathers acting as a shield. _This is only temporary, but at least I can have time to counterattack and get Cloud into sense._

_You really surprise me Sephiroth…_The blonde swordsman thought as he failed to contact Sephiroth's body. _But your special attacks won't help you win the round! _And then he reached the second sword at full speed.

* * *

_Several metres away from Velut Luna Memorial Garden Park_

_Hold on Sephiroth! _Aerith thought in a hurry as she ran ahead of Yuffie, despite that the kunoichi's speed is greater than her. _I'm not gonna let you killed by Cloud! We can sort out him in a less violent fashion!_

"Hey Aerith!" Yuffie panted slightly as she ran as best as she could "Could you please slow down? My legs are gonna run out sooner than I expected!"

"Yuffie, I thought ninjas were never tired of running at lightning speed!" The brunette woman joked to her.

"Ha ha, very funny Aerith! Anyway, is it me or are you really worried about Sephiroth?"

"What makes you say that?" Her cheeks were blushing red for the moment.

"Well remember Olympus Coliseum over two years ago where your eyes first met Sephiroth? This seems like a coincidence you know, but I think you're in love with him in every bit!"

"What are you talking about? It's not that I love him straight away, it's just that…" Her cheeks were more rosy than it had first been "…back in Olympus Coliseum, Sephiroth was such a mysterious character to begin with. And when I accidentally first met him as 'a knight in shining armour coming to my rescue', that's where he and I share so much common features that none of the people noticed."

"Ah, so does that mean you're still in love with him now?"

Aerith remembered the moment that her kiss was also Sephiroth's first kiss and her cheeks were getting more rosy than ever. "I don't know about that! I mean, I don't even really know if…" She stopped unexpectedly near the foundation, where she found out the horrible event.

"Hey, Aerith-chan, why did you stop…" Yuffie stopped behind her and saw another ghastly sight "…oh, crap."

What the both girls saw that the One Winged Angel kneeling down, covered in blood from his forehead to just many sword cuts from the torso and not only that, but his raven black feathers were falling down one-by-one and by the evidence of his short breaths, things were not looking good.

"Oh no, if Sephiroth's keep going like, then he'll…" And unexpectedly, Aerith ran as she got out her Princess Guard from her back.

"AERITH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU'LL BE KILLED, IF YOU'RE NOT CAREFUL!"

"Yuffie, I don't care what's going on, but for many last times, Sephiroth protected me in faces of danger with injuries, but this time…I'll be the one who's going to save him!"

And she ran, just seconds away, before Cloud's final sword strike was fallen on top of Sephiroth's head.

_Sephiroth, don't you dare get killed by Cloud or all of your feathers being fallen out of your wing! Together, we can guide Cloud that he was misunderstood the whole time and end this chaos, before the XIII Order discovers the way to unlock…the path to Lost Eden!

* * *

_

_Argh…Guess I'm about to be too late. _Sephiroth thought as his conscious was barely alive in his body. _Despite my best defence, Cloud has managed to break my defence with so many fast special moves and he was being misguided the whole time. Then, is it too late to save Aerith and that promise? Oh God, I don't want that to happened._

"_Sephiroth, please don't give up on me, when I disappear."_

"_But why, mummy? You're here with me."_

"_That maybe true, but listen to me. Even though everyone has darkness in their hearts, including me, that doesn't mean you can be evil. Once you plunge into the darkness, there is a small glint of light that will guide you your exit. However, light is the same thing as darkness, so you mustn't forget that. Therefore, you mustn't forget that giving up is an option for those who want to stay in the darkness forever and lose hope altogether."_

_Mother, even though you were separated from the darkness, I think that I found hope that you should be proud of. Thank you._

As for Cloud forever, his victory was at last in his grasp.

_Finally, _he thought as he gripped his sixth sword. _After breaking Sephiroth's defence forty-two times, I can ultimately end the One Winged Angel curse and laid the people in my home world to rest! _His speed was immeasurably fast and then…

SLASH!

…the sixth sword made a huge on Aerith's left side of the body and blood was pouring out from there. At first, Cloud's emotion was angry, but then he realised that out of nowhere, it changed to despair, shock and horrific that overcame his anger. As for Sephiroth himself, he felt unexpected that he was still alive. However, his expression led him to complete appalling shock as the person falling from behind and then onto his weak, but stable arms was actually Aerith herself.

"Aerith…?" He cried gently to the wounded woman. "But…"

"Sephiroth…" She whispered to him with a very weak, but firm voice that even Cloud and Yuffie could hear "I don't want to hear you that…seeing you being horribly hurt by…Cloud is a big burden on your shoulders…I want both of us to share the…pain that we have and protect…each other, should we in big danger…and Cloud…Sephiroth is right all the time…he's not your darkness as he said…he wanted to tell you that you…were being misguided about the darkness…the real darkness that you hold is…yourself…"And with the final look on Sephiroth's face and a smile to return the favour, she closed her emerald green eyes.

"Aerith…don't tell me…no, it can't be…you're too young to die…why did you protect me…even though I told you that I wanted to protect you from harm…please be alive…please don't die…"

"Aerith…" Yuffie unusually gasped in pain and tears that could not let go of her face "…don't die…too young…"

"Is this my fault…?" Cloud whispered weakly, after what he had done horribly wrong with the situation "…I killed Aerith…with my sword…? No, it can't be…no! This isn't what I want! I don't want her to die! Please, this isn't true, right?"

* * *

_Author's Notes: After so many hours put up to work (and resist temptation of reading chapter 14 of the World Embryo scanlations again and again), I have finally done it, along with adding a climatic evil cliffhanger and if you people are complaining about the action scenes, look…just do that in your head and let the imagination come out!_

_Anyway, recently I spoke to Tish over at the MSN Messenger and she gave me useful tips on making good AeriSeph fanfictions. In return, I gave her some advice about general fanfictions, so I hope that was helpful to you Tish (though I'm not sure, if she's going to stick by the rules, I mean she told me that her FFVII fan novelization had five large scenes in one chapter. Whoa!). So, if you FF people are stuck with making fanfictions or just to say hi to me, PM me, if you want or add MSN to me, if you ask nicely._

_Anyway, big thanks to Tish, Lily Silver and many AeriSeph fans, otherwise, I would have brain problems of coming up new twists and plots to the chapters. Lovely comments and review are generally okay, but if YOU ADDED AN FLAMER, I will release Riku Amami from World Embryo into Kanshu mode and have him to rip your legs off. And now, more Nimbus Detour to ease the darker tone of the main story! And for disclaimer's sake, I don't own most of the Monty Python jokes.

* * *

_

_**Nimbus Detour – Bypass Eight – Rabbit**_

It was a great summer afternoon in Second Eden and most of its citizens enjoyed spending time by either going on holidays to the theme park planet (owned by Rufus Shinra's dad) Genso or visiting the renaissance crimson planet, Akagi. However, not everyone enjoys having a great summer holiday and that person would be Sephiroth, whose favourite season, winter, goes on a long way till then. He hated the heatwave that his black wing absorbed it and was almost impossible to touch it and also for the fact he has one big problem to his hatred of this hot season – he has hayfever since he first infected this troublesome symptom at such a young age.

_Dammit! Not only do I have to suffer hayfever, my bigger enemy than Cloud, why do I have to carry this shopping bags around? No wait, I volunteered to get the demands, dam – oh, great. Not again! _And Sephiroth sneezed. Twice that is and his muddled mind told him to itch his eyes, but he could not. And then he remembered what the people wanted.

First came Aerith: _"Sephiroth, could you get the list of food I'm giving you please? I'm planning to do an outdoor barbecue and I would be grateful, if you can do it for me. Thanks."_

Next was Leon: _"Sephiroth, do you have a minute to spare? Could you get me a English-Cantonese translator please? I want to impress to make sure my Cantonese pronunciation is correct and not embarrassed the folks in Genso."_

Then it was Adrian: _"Master Sephiroth, if you have the time, could you please get me that cupping set? I've got more problems with my sleep than dealing with Bach._

Next was Yuffie: _"Hey Sephy, can I have a mp3 player please? I just want to upload my favourite songs into there! Thanks!"_

Then came his 'rival', Cloud: _"Ugh, Sephiroth. If you have the time to do enough shopping, get me some sword polish, please. I want to make my sword brighter than your so-called katana!"_

Next was Bach: _"Hey, Sephy! Could you get me more guitar strings? I broke mine many times!"_

Then came Kei, though his demand was more of a delivery than a simple favour of buying: _"Could you deliver the bento lunch to Eliza, please? She always forget to bring it when I prepared it for her."_

Next was Alda: _"Could you please get me some wine making set? I want to get it for Rufus's birthday."_

Then Zack: _"Give me more booze, please! That's nothing more I could ask for!"_

And finally, Yazoo and Kadaj jointly: _"We want to have a surprise present for Loz's birthday and we were wondering if you can buy us an animal, please? We can pay you with money and the pet has to be cute, though."_

_Man, with all those demands, well I already gave the lunch to Eliza, in this blistering heat, I'm going to die straight away!_

And after several minutes of walking to and fro stations, he finally has found the pet shop that the silver-haired brothers wanted to get a present for Loz. So, Sephiroth went inside the pet shop and what he found almost instantly was a parrot being dead for almost twenty-four hours or so and went straight to the manager.

"Erm, excuse me," Sephiroth remarked politely "but the parrot in this cage is dead. Shouldn't you at least take it off the shelf, before the children will be greatly disturbed?"

"What?" Came the reply of the pet shop manager "This parrot over there is having a rest!"

"Look, I'm telling you this parrot you've got there is dead for almost a day has died. Could you please take it away?"

"I've already told you that parrot is taking a rest."

"Are you winding me up? Take that parrot away and replace it with a live one!"

"Sorry, no can do. This parrot is staying and when I say it's having a rest, I mean it's taking a nap literally."

Furious that the pet shop owner was 'blind' to the fact the parrot had died, Sephiroth marched to the cage that the parrot had passed away and showed it to him.

"LOOK! FOR GOD'S SAKE! THIS PARROT HAS DIED AND ITS LIFE CEASED TO BE! NOW, IF YOU DON'T TAKE IT AWAY AND REPLACED IT WITH A BLOODY LIVE ONE, I'M GOING TO CHOP YOUR HEAD OFF!"

"Oh, right! Oh, right already! You don't need to get angry anyway! I'll replace the parrot! So, what type of animal do you want?"

He sighed as the owner finally was making sense. "Do you have any cute pets that fits the budget?"

"Cute pets? Oh, sure I've got plenty of them, from Chocobo chicks to Moombas. But the cutest one of all, is this!" He lifted a heavy cage that was ridiculously guarded with titanium grids and security pad for the door to open and inside was a cute white rabbit.

"But why the hell would be this cute rabbit be stuck inside this ridiculously tighter security cage?"

"Well, er…this rabbit 'ere is the rarest of them all and it's a Caernnborg Rabbit, Latin name 'Savagus Lapinus'."

"What? But this is just a harmless bunny? What the hell are trying me to sell?"

"Don't be fooled by its cute appearance! This rabbit here has fangs the size of venom cobras and would kill many humans, if you're not careful! However, there are instructions to give you on how to tame the beast!"

He came closer to the One Winged Angel's ear and whispered to him on the instruction.

* * *

_Next day, Loz's Party_

"Oh right, booze!" Zack's voice shouted as behind the scene, he was drinking every last beer he could drink.

However, in the distant…

"Huh? That's Loz's present?" Kadaj asked with his eyes wide opened "Then why would the cute rabbit be stuck inside this security cage?"

"Are you sure it's cute?" Yazoo soon followed with the same expression as his younger brother.

"Did I have any choice?" Sephiroth replied bitterly while he sneezed and covered his mouth with a handkerchief.

"Hey, guys!" Loz's voice was heard as he came from the direction "So, do you have a present for me? Oh my, this rabbit is cute! But why is it stuck inside this maximum security cage?"

"Don't ask!" All three silvered haired men replied with bitterness.

"Oh, then I shall take it out then and hug this cute creature!"

"Hang on!" Sephiroth exclaimed, seconds before Loz incorrectly opened the cage "That's not…"

CRASH!

SQUEEK!

WHACK!

ARGH!

SPLASH!

BANG!

CLANG!

SQUEEK!

"…right. You're suppose to tranquilize the rabbit or restrain him, before taking it out!"

And what was the best party Loz could have wished for became a bit of a scrapheap as lots of furniture was damaged, the catering was a big mess and the guest of honour was covered in bunny scratches. And then…

"Sephiroth, do you have any explanation about this?" Everyone, including Aerith and Cloud, who were all covered in a mess.

"Oh…crap." And then he sneezed around five times, before he gave up resisting to itch his eyes hard.

* * *

_Quick note: I dedicate this Detour to hayfever sufferers, including myself throughout the Summer season!_


	23. Journey Twenty Two: Inexperience

_**Journey Twenty Two – Inexperience**_

_Ugh, where the hell am I in? Last time, I was fighting against that Ashura bastard and then…everything black out._

He opened his eyes, awaken by his sheer will from his mind and body, got his body straight up and looked to his surroundings. The room was neither too small, nor too big, but the décor had just plain white wall, only with a sink and that large mirror, whose exterior was only the surface he could see, merely behind the scenes were security guards checking their progress. And then he noticed a feeling from his right leg and uncovered the duvet to find out there was this strange-looking electronic tag.

"Good to see that you're not comatose, Marluxia." A familiar voice was heard from Marluxia as he turned around to see his fellow companion Demyx, wearing the exact dark blue cotton pyjamas as his. "Otherwise, I would have no audience to cheer for my performance."

"Demyx, they've got you, too?" He replied rather clumsily.

"Yep, the same as you were, except I was frozen over by that swordsman and his ninja companion."

Then suddenly, the door opened automatically and three people entered into the room. One had blonde hair fitted into those bishounen slick style, another had pink hair and was slightly too young to carry guns and the last one was old gentleman who had red hair and was very crossed to his son, whose name Alexi was hidden from his current XIII Order name, Marluxia.

"What a nice way to have a family reunion…dad." Marluxia smirked at Renaults, his father "So, why did you bring my sister, Alda, along, even though she's the spitting image of her human self, before that horrible accident changed herself?"

"Alexi…" Renaults replied very bitterly to his eldest son "…Your younger sister and her gunner friend, Rufus, told me everything about your 'expedition' so far and…you truly disappoint the family and me. You set a very bad example for her."

"Brother, I used to always look at you, when I need comfort. But now…" Alda sighed as she crossed her arms and came closer to her older brother "…you joined this crummy society, only to have disgraced our family name, as well as plotting Second Eden into XIII Order territory. You really disappointed me now. Now, you and your friend will have to explain everything or else, Rufus and I will spilt it out for you…forcefully."

"Well," Marluxia smirked with a dirty smile on his face "I welcome to try it out. I won't be a good boy to tell you now."

* * *

_Somewhere in the ward, Saint Maria of Eden Hospital, Second Eden_

_Aerith…why did you come and stop the fight?_

Sephiroth was sitting beside the 'eternally' slumber Aerith, whose closed eyes were as beautiful as her open emerald green eyes and his pale hands were holding her gentle and lukewarm palms. His expressions were a mixture of deep sorrow and relief for the fact that she was still alive. Cloud was standing on the wall, opposite to the One Winged Angel's side, looking more depressed than him.

Then Doctor Depp came in, rather to interrupt the silence that the atmosphere had picked up.

"Hey, I've got the results from the analysis section," The scruffy-looking doctor announced calmly, though unusually nervous since he was talking to 'the-person-that-brings-bad-luck-and-destruction' and the chocobo-boy "and the good news is that Miss Gainsborough has just missed being er, sliced in the solar plexus…"

"…" Both of the men did not say anything about the event last night.

"…and she will recover for some time soon. However, I'm not sure if she will recover mentally and physically, since that painful blow really did knock off her to sleep. So I can't help it all."

"…"

"Well, I'll leave this place, since you wanted some peace and quiet with her." And he left quickly as soon as the door closed itself seconds after him and the silent atmosphere, though with only machines bleeping , brought back in and for the first few moments, none of the swordsmen ever spoke. Until…

"Cloud…" Sephiroth spoke in a regrettable, but also pitiful manner "…have you ever lost someone that was mistakenly killed by a person who didn't commit such a horrible fashion?"

"…Yeah. You told me right after I accidentally hurt Aerith and I realise that the person I fought against wasn't you…" Cloud replied with a bitter tone to him, since he still had some grudge against the One Winged Angel.

"Sometimes, when I think that history was replaced by mythology lies my father put a thousand years ago, I come to think about the differences between light and darkness. And somehow…I felt a bit bitter that the history was a whole lie to everyone through the coming years."

"…"

"But then I realised that lie he made was actually the protection that he gave to me, so that my mother and I could live a peaceful and normal life with the item I've used to keep in my body that is most important to unlock the path to Lost Eden; but also the most forgotten method that everyone in the years later have known. That was my light and darkness the same time."

"…why would light and darkness be the same? Aren't they just the polar opposites?"

"Yes, but that's just their outward appearances. To be honest, if you look at them deeper than their surfaces, you actually find out that light and darkness are both the same thing. Like 'God' and 'Devil' in the Christian mythology, they're both the same person."

"…so, saying that if someone wanted their light so much, their darkness will simply dim away; but at the price that like darkness that you can't see anyone, but that black bleak place, light can blind you in the wrong direction." And then after the statement, Cloud realised that admittedly Sephiroth was right all along about light and darkness and the need to balance each other,

"You see, Cloud. Everyone is not a hero or a villain, but their actions they take always change their outcome and could turn into 'good' to some people, but turn 'evil' to others and no matter what accomplishment you have done to others, you'll always be someone's enemy."

"…Then, I should you owe an apology." The chocobo-boy sighed greatly as his next words were surprising to Sephiroth, as well as the two unexpected guests, one in a white mask and the other carrying a bow and had light brown flowing short hair "…I hate to say this, but Sephiroth, I'm really sorry for mistakenly telling you that you're my darkness. I realise now, that not only the actual darkness is still pulling me down to the deepest surface, that entering to light so much can blind you to the wrong direction."

"…Hmm, then I accept this apology, since you fully understand on how important balancing between the two opposites are."

"Then, I suppose you two are having a truce, now have you?" came an unexpecting male voice, to which baffled the young men, until they turned around to see him and his 'bodyguard'.

"MISTER GAINSBOROUGH?" They both bellowed to Gast as he took off his mask and hood.

"Please, gentlemen. Just call me 'Gast' from now on. I hate being so formal from many people."

"But why are you here?" The One Winged Angel questioned with a surprising tone "Haven't you got some business to take care of, mainly messing with the XIII Order?"

"Yes I should do so, but seeing my only daughter in ill health is more important than taking care of your enemy. Therefore, I sent your uncle, Ryoujin and Astaroth to continue the work."

"Wait a minute!" The chocobo-boy exclaimed interruptedly "Sephiroth's got a uncle that I've never heard of?"

"Cloud, would you stop interrupting on my confusing family tree?" Sephiroth scolded to Cloud, since he was baffled by his strange family connection "I'll give you the whole story later on. Go on; I apologise if 'my friend' is a little behind on the situation we are in now."

"I see," The person in white laughed gently "thanks to your kunoichi friend last night, I was able to come here as soon as possible to see if Aerith was alright. By the way, where is she?"

"You mean, Yuffie? I think she's in the hospital guest room, sleeping after worrying about her health right until late night. And…I've got another question for you – why didn't you come to your daughter when you had the chance to see her many years ago, even though your home world's covered in darkness?"

"…Even if she was still alive, I can't help the fact that she was lost in there, along with my wife back then. And then, there's the fact I was such a burden to her if I wasn't a good father to her.

* * *

**_Years before Aerith's birth, Radiant Garden (Hollow Bastion)_**

"_Gast, you'll believe this…"_

"_Now, what is it, Ilfana? You won the lottery?"_

"_Even better! Remember the time where we've got married and fall into embrace in our honeymoon?"_

"_Ah yes. Wait, do you mean…?"_

"_Uh-huh…"_

"_But this is so sudden! I mean, I'm a not great father! I don't know what should I do if the baby needs constant attention!"_

"_Relax, dear! I don't have any experience on what it means to be a mother sooner than I thought. But together or separated, we can build it from the bottom and then, eventually, we can master the techniques. And then we can soon passed it down to our baby and then, through many generations."

* * *

_

_Present_

"And even now," Gast remarked sadly as he stroked his only daughter's sleeping gentle face "I was too nervous on this huge responsibility to take and I was deeply saddened that I lost the chance in such a peaceful world."

"I agree with you one some degrees, but it's not too late to become a good father." Sephiroth stated as he sat down melancholy, staring at the comatose Aerith.

"What do you mean?"

"It's true that you lost the chance of being a good father when your home world gets covered by darkness. But that doesn't mean you're going to give up that chance. I lost my mother and father many years ago, but I found him inside the robot that was one of Ashura's creation. As for my mother, even though she disappeared, my heart is still on course on the hopes of finding her. Luckily for you, you have your daughter around, so that you can give your wisdom to her."

"…Looks like you've got intelligence inheritance from your father. I'll give you praise for that. Perhaps, I shall take your word for it. But for now, we're still in war with the XIII Order."

"Daddy…?" Aerith's voice murmured; surprising the guests inside the ward, including Yuffie, who had just bought a bunny plushie for her as she came inside. The young woman opened her eyes slowly and was amazed to see there were so many people to greet her "Why are you…?"

"Aerith…" He just kept staring at his daughter, while she looked back at him.

"Were you worried…about me?" She smiled to him, even though she was still weak at getting up at full recovery.

"Yes…though I'm not sure what to say, if only your mother was with you."

"Well, I'm glad that you came. So…if you don't mind, Cloud…"

"I understand." Cloud quickly replied, as he knew that she wanted to talk to her living relative – and Sephiroth, in private "I'll go and leave you two alone." And then he left the room.

"Huh?" Yuffie was bemused, before she realized what Cloud was talking about "Oh, right! I'll just leave this ultra-cute bunny plushie there and go away."

"I'd better leave the room with Sephiroth and you." Lawrence replied as he was following her "Besides, I've got duty to protect you, should one of the XIII Order members or any other suspecting person comes to wreck havoc."

* * *

_Outside the ward_

Few seconds later and there was silence between the three people.

"So, um…" Yuffie first spoke nervously to the two older men "…why don't we introduce each other, even though I only met Cloud the last time? I'm Yuffie Kisaragi!"

"…So, you mean that Chocobo-Boy's name is Cloud?" Lawrence asked to kunoichi, though Cloud moaned that Sephiroth was not alone of calling him 'Chocobo-Boy'.

"I rather you wouldn't call me Chocobo-Boy!" He exclaimed as he sighed in slight anger "…Cloud would just do fine."

"And what's your name, you mysterious guy?" She asked in a happy and cheerful manner.

"Me? I'm Lawrence Yeager, Bach's older brother who had been 'deceased'." The man in red joked.

"WHAT THE? YOU'RE THE LAWRENCE YEAGER WHO'S DEAD? NO WAY!"

"I wouldn't want you to shout Yuffie, otherwise some Y.E. official might notice me that I'm still alive and it'll be a complete mess, if Bach came here."

"O-o-o-o-h, I'm really sorry! It's just that Aerith and Sephy told me about you and how you've got leukaemia and stuff, but why the heck they haven't told Leon and me that you're alive?"

"Let's just say that Bach would be better off that I would be dead to him, while I'll protect and encourage him in secret."

"Ah…wait a minute! Encourage him? Aren't you the guy who sabotage and ruin the Olympus Coliseum tournament two years ago?"

"Yes."

"Then why the hell were you trying to kill Bach?"

"Bach's very inexperienced on the actual battlefield when he was young and he's such a lazy slob, I tend to bother him so that he could get on continuing forward and give him the taste of working hard."

"Well next time, don't kill anyone when the tournament starts or even about to finish! Well anyway, that's me finish talking about something; I need something to drink. Do you want anything?"

"I'm alright thanks."

"Thanks for the offering, but I'll pass." Cloud replied quickly.

* * *

_Somewhere in space…_

"Xenmas," Vexen announced to his 'Superior' as he walked towards him formally "I would proudly say that the MA Jennifer had its best performance yet to the enemy…"

"And yet," Xenmas replied angrily as he was facing to the window "that MA didn't do any damage to that Jehovah and its unexpected ally. I'm very disappointed with your progress so far. And the worse news is that Demyx and Marluxia are captured by our enemies themselves, including the One Winged Angel and that Ashura bastard!"

"But sir! Do not worry about Demyx and Marluxia's capture; Saïx and Larxene are coming to their rescue as we speak."

"I do hope so, but this will be your final chance, otherwise your pathetic experiments will all for naught! And make sure you give a good hearing to the pilot."

"You mean number thirteen and that woman? But of course, I'll be right away."

Meanwhile at the docking area, the golden-blonde spiky haired boy, still looked depressed as ever got off the main pilot position as he looked further to the distant person on the weapon control position.

"Hey, Roxas!" Axel's voice was heard, as Roxas turned around to see the red-spiky haired man and the mysterious blue-silver haired man "Congrats on getting to the MA's main pilot position!"

"So what does it feel like to control this huge mecha?" asked the blue-silver haired man calmly.

"…Leave me alone…" Roxas tetchily remarked as he walked away, ignoring the two men.

"Oh come on! Why aren't you listening to your uncle Axel and Zexion?"

"…Why do I pilot this thing? I haven't even mastered controlling a Gummi ship yet!"

"Well, as the Superior would say, 'The Key to Destiny would always control the role of the Lost Eden MA Jennifer', regardless of your timeline ancestry or whatever it's called."

"But why me? I don't even know if my ancestors lived in Lost Eden over a thousand years ago! I can't just control this huge machine with an older woman that I've never heard of; for the fact being that she never listens."

"But Roxas," Vexen's voice was heard also as the scientist walked down towards them "That woman is the mother of the One Winged Angel."

"And what do I care? You just drugged and erasing her memories, so that you can control her innocent mind! I don't want to be in this mess! Can't I get some say into this?"

"Roxas! Enough with your nonsense! You were the only XIII Order member that can open that MA from its shell, thanks to my research that 'The Descendent of The Key to Destiny' must open it by touching it and because it requires two pilots, you were the chosen, while this woman – the mother of the One Winged Angel – was just a present from the Superior's Master and she knows the true history about Lost Eden. However, we were not successful with our objectives, due to the One Winged Angel's strength and its allies' powers, you were still inexperienced on controlling Jennifer fully. Therefore, I want you to carry on training to master it, until you can match the power with Jehovah!"

"But I don't want to! I'm not going to get involved with this again!" Unfortunately, Roxas's comment was a step to trouble as Vexen punched him to his left cheek and he fell to the floor.

"Don't you dare say your words to me! You're here, because the Superior said so and you HAVE to drive the MA Jennifer, whether you like it or not!" And the scientist walked away from the golden-blonde Keyblade Master, where Zexion pulled him up, after an unexpected uppercut from Vexen.

"I know how you feel…" The blue-silver haired man remarked to him.

"…No, you don't." Roxas replied as he resumed his position and soon walked off "…you'd just accept the fact that me, a descendent of this 'Key to Destiny' controls this huge MA or whatever and I not sure, if I'm one of them or not! There's bound to other people besides me! I don't want to fight them again!"

"Roxas, you were a descendent of the last survivors of Lost Eden, named Marcus, who had control of the MA Jennifer, thanks to countless amounts of Vexen's research. Although we know the pilot to the Lost Eden MA Jehovah is the One Winged Angel, sadly we don't know the pilot of the Rogue MA Jenova. And now, you have to confront Jehovah, so that you can unlock the path to Lost Eden and therefore, we can finally realize what their desires were and change the Nimbus Galaxy to a better place."

"I rather not. And besides, I'm still too inexperienced to control. I just…want my freedom back."

* * *

_Saint Maria of Eden Hospital Garden, Second Eden_

"Isn't this peaceful, Sephiroth?" Aerith asked with a gentle smile as both her and the One Winged Angel sat next to each other on the white bench, while looking at the sunset sky.

"Yeah, it is." He replied with the same expression, even though the peaceful scenery only lasted for few moments "Do you think what your father said is true about the Lost Eden incident, so far?"

"Yeah, right after that I'm fully recovered and my father and Lawrence left to do their business, I can believe that he told us the truth completely."

"And now, didn't he said that 'we're the chosen ones' to save the Nimbus Galaxy? It's just that not only the responsibility we take is far too cheesy to take, it's also too big for just us to do that."

"Sephiroth, I don't think what my father gave to us is really that cheesy. It's just that he wanted us to protect this secret from anyone, including the XIII Order. And also, we have to find out who is piloting the MA Jennifer."

"Yeah, but…" Sephiroth held his hand on to Aerith's "…I don't want to lose you, again. I'd just don't want to see you alone."

"Yeah…I don't want to lose you either. I can't bear the fact that if you were dead, trying to protect me, I would never forgive myself."

Meanwhile in the distance, Cloud was looking at the 'two lovebirds', though he was not as much disgusted as he first looked at them.

"Hey, Chocobo-boy!" Yuffie exclaimed happily to the blonde-haired swordsman, to which he was surprised that she and her lone swordsman companion came to see him "Are you spying on 'The Raven and The Dove'?"

"What the!" Cloud replied with a flustered look "Where did you come from? Well, anyways; I'm just looking at Sephiroth and Aerith. It's just that I don't want to see him falling in love with her, but somehow for some reason, she wants to be close to him. I don't really understand why they're in love?"

"Cloud, I understand what you're saying, but Sephiroth and Aerith aren't just in love with other – they need each other."

"But why?"

"You might not get it, but Aerith and Sephiroth both share common things that are unaware we notice. I think you need further explanation from the experts; i.e. Leon and me!"

"Wait a minute!" Leon bellowed to his ninja companion "Since when do I get in the act?"

"Don't worry, Leon! You're going to assist me to tell Cloud everything we know…or something."

"Yeah…I just hope that the future would carry good fortune of things like that."

* * *

_Author's Notes: Phew, another journey done and some more twists added to the plot! Bet, you didn't notice that, eh? And yeah, even though I haven't played Kingdom Hearts II yet (stupid Europe with this stupid PAL conversions), I tend to get some information by (ahem)…going to KHU website and put the characters in that I know of so far._

_As far as World Embryo is concerned (I promise that I would not talk about it too much, since I'm in the FFVII category), the inspiration behind the first scene of this Journey was reading through chapter nine and to put it, that scene where the main character got captured inside 'that prison or something' was very interesting to me, so I put this as a homage to Daisuke Moriyama's latest manga. And now, I think this Journey has gone a little philosophy –esque to it, because I tend to believe that sometimes, being in Heaven when you die is very good to most of the people, but like Hell, some would not like to choose it; maybe that Heaven's too strict on its rules and Hell is too chaotic to run itself and I would prefer to go to Purgatory thank you very much. And also, I think villain characters deserved to be forgiven, because let's face it, even hero characters tend to go evil sometimes. Even you feel so sorry for Marvel characters too, even though what they're doing is practically evil._

_And now, I would like to thank many AeriSeph fans and readers, including my new pals Tish, turtlerad17, Lily Silver (even though she hasn't reviewed the recent ones yet), Foi (same one here, but who cares). Without you, I'll be stuck in Writer's Block Limbo and keep those reviews and comments in (as long as they're not FLAMERS). And as we're in the Summer, another extra present for you – Nimbus Detour!

* * *

_

**_Nimbus Detour – Bypass Nine – Dream_**

_Somewhere on a tall building, Serapha, Second Eden_

Rain and dull grey clouds covered the day and Kadaj was standing at the edge, ready for something very horrible indeed.

"Dammit!" He exclaimed as he reached his arms out "Not only that I'm still traumatised by that unknown blonde-haired gunner two years ago, my life's been a mess, thanks to no qualifications after school and Horowitz University in Mana Mosso rejected my place in there! I'm going to end my life, right here, right now!"

And then he jumped off the building, until suddenly…

* * *

_Kadaj's Bedroom_

"AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHH!" Kadaj screamed as he sat up straight away with his eyes very wide open and because of his scream, Yazoo opened the door quickly, with his eyes a mixture of sleep and alert.

"Kadaj, what the hell at you're screaming at?" The older brother asked very groggily "It's two thirty in the morning!"

"Oh, it's you Yazoo. I had a nightmare, where I was committing suicide!"

"Kadaj, that's only your brain messing around with your mind. Just go back to sleep."

"Oh, ok."

As Kadaj got back to bed and Yazoo returning to his room, the older brother went slippery back to bed.

"Yazoo, what's that about?" asked a person next to him, with a very woozily and female voice.

"Oh, it's nothing. Let's just go back to sleep." He replied as he slid back to sleep. What Yazoo had not noticed that person next to him was actually Eliza.

* * *

_Eliza's Bedroom_

"AAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEE!" She screamed at she got up very quickly.

"Eliza, would you stop screaming for no reason and go back to sleep?" pleaded a very tiredly, but male voice.

"Ok."

However, what Eliza had noticed again that the person that she was sleeping with was actually Lawrence for no absolute reason.

* * *

_Lawrence's Bedroom_

"AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH!" He screamed with the same procedure as the previous two victims…er, I mean individuals.

"Lawrence, will you shut screaming and get back to sleep, before I'll get your tongue out?" exclaimed a female voice, though it was very broken.

"But…"

"I don't care! Just go back to sleep!"

And he did, though what he never noticed was a person next to him sleeping was actually Alda.

* * *

_Alda's Bedroom_

"WHAT THE F…" She was about to scream, until a person interrupted her cursing.

"Alda, get back to bed!" whispered a male voice.

"Dammit! I was about to curse, until you interrupted!"

"Just go back to sleep!"

And she finally did, a few minutes a 'persuasion', though what she had not noticed that the person who is sleeping next to her was actually…Adrian.

* * *

_Adrian's Bedroom_

"AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!" He screamed with the same course of action as everyone else.

"ADRIAN, WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!" exclaimed a very angry, but also very dizzily voice.

"But I had this…"

"Please…"

And then, a few seconds later, Adrian went back to sleep, though he never realized that the person was not only male…it was his childhood friend, Bach.

* * *

_Bach's Bedroom_

"AAAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEE!" He screamed, like anyone else previously did.

"Now, what are you dreaming about?" whispered a weak voice.

"Oh, nothing."

"Then, go back to bed, then."

After the guitarist went back to slumber, there was a peaceful atmosphere, but what he had realized that the person he was sleeping with was surprisingly, but somehow for inexplicable reason, Cloud Strife.

* * *

_Cloud's Bedroom. No wait, scratch that. Some hotel room in Senplice._

Cloud got up straight with his eyes very unusually wide opened, though he did not screamed like the other people, who had the same nightmare as him.

"Cloud, please get back to sleep." Pleaded a very weak and groggily voice.

"But I had this nightmare, where I went to bed with this insane guitarist!"

"Cloud, it's nearly three in the morning! Either you'll go back to sleep or I'll have to deal you to forcefully get back to sleep myself!"

"Oh, all right. Fine!"

And Cloud got back to sleep. However, little did he realized that the person that he slept with was very unusual indeed. In fact, he was sleeping with…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…Sephiroth.

* * *

_Kei's Guest Bedroom_

It was a sunny good morning, until Sephiroth sat up straight and screaming with his emerald green eyes wide opened largely. And then, from the sliding door inside, Aerith came in with the unusual breakfast for him.

"Good morning Sephiroth!" She smiled, though that quickly changed into a confusing expression "Er…did you had a good night sleep, then?"

"Sleep, did you say?" He replied with a very nervous, but slightly traumatised tone "I had this nightmare for the first time, since when I was a kid."

"Oh, so what nightmare did you get?"

"I was sleeping with Chocobo-Boy, Cloud."

"Huh?"

* * *

_Quick Note: This Detour had me inspired by that joke I made in the Xenolegacy (Xenosaga fan site) forum a few months ago, where the character either jumped off the building or commit suicide and then wakes up in his or her bedroom, where he got a nightmare and then a person comes along and ask why is he screaming, before going back to bed with a person. However, the second person that the first person that he or she never noticed is someone who either the one we like him or her to pair up or not, and then he or she wakes up. And the whole system repeats itself, until the joke gets boring and I stop it there. And whoever spot the author's name in a certain Alex Rider series somewhere in this detour, gets a cookie!_


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